Man gets 10 years in prison for axing his father

A TSHOLOTSHO man, Mthokozisi Tshuma who in 2010 struck his father twice with an axe on the head and once on the shoulder nearly killing him, was on Monday sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Tshuma, who was 20 years old then and from Luhonjana Village in Tsholotsho, will serve an effective seven years after Bulawayo regional magistrate Mr Owen Tagu suspended three years on condition he does not commit a similar offence in which violence is an element.

Tshuma was arrested in November 2010 and has been in remand at Mlondolozi Prison after it was established that he was mentally disturbed and had to be examined by two doctors.

The trial only started recently when he was confirmed fit to stand trial.

Tshuma struck his father, Mr Dan Tshuma after he had told him not to make noise.

Sentencing Tshuma, the magistrate considered that he was a first offender who had pleaded guilty to the offence and asked for forgiveness.

Mr Tagu said he also considered that Tshuma was drunk when he committed the offence but said a deterrent sentence was the most appropriate because he almost killed his own father.

It was the State's case that Tshuma struck his father twice on the head, a delicate part of the body.

For the State, Mr Tinashe Dzipe said Tshuma was living with his father at the family homestead.

On 12 November 2010 at about 8pm, Tshuma was drunk and making noise while in one of the huts. His father told him to keep quiet.

This did not go down well with him and he picked an axe, advanced towards his father and struck him twice on the head and once on the left shoulder.

The old man sustained a deep cut on the head and a swollen forehead and shoulder.

A report was made to the police leading to the arrest of Tshuma and he told the court that he did not know that he had injured his father.