Man mistakes father in law for burglar, knocks him unconscious

BULAWAYO man from Nkulumane 5 high-density suburb hit his father-in-law with a baseball bat on the head knocking him unconscious three weeks ago, after mistaking him for a burglar when he heard him moving around the house at night.

The man, Mr Doubt Moyo, has since been punished by his father-in-law's clan who demanded a cow as compensation for the embarrassment and pain he inflicted on the father-in-law.

The father-in-law, Mr Timothy Nyathi, is said to have initially demanded three beasts.

Mr Moyo said he did not pause to check who was outside, as his house had previously been broken into by thieves who got away with a DVD player and a digital camera.

"It was dark and worse there was no electricity due to load-shedding. I only saw a silhouette. My father-in-law made the situation worse by trying to run away. So I just went for the head to stop him in his tracks. I only discovered that it was my father-in-law when I went for a closer look at him," said Mr Moyo.

Mr Moyo revealed that he managed to revive his father-in-law after an hour with the assistance of his irate wife, Mrs Sibonile Moyo, and his mother-in-law, Mrs Thandeka Nyathi.

"My wife did not understand that it was a mistake despite my apologies and explanations. Of course, ! had to understand her concern because it's her father. She had every right to be angry.
 
"I feared for the worst because at first my father-in-law was not responding to the first aid we were rendering him. We thought of calling an ambulance, but my mother-in-law said there was no need to panic since he was breathing," he said.

Mr Moyo said at first his father-in-law was angry with him but later forgave him after he had handed over the beast as atonement.

"Everything is well with my father-in-law now it is the other relatives who were difficult. They were pressuring him to demand three cows but in the end he saw reason because I have been a good son-in-law and husband to his daughter," said Mr Moyo.

Mrs Moyo confirmed the incident but refused to shed more light on what transpired.

She said "What happened, happened. It's now ancient history, let us move forward. I do not want to talk about it."

In a telephone interview from his rural home in Lower Gweru, the father-in-law said as much as he had forgiven his son-in-law, it was a must to punish him for his deeds as tradition demanded it.

"I love my son-in-law like my own son but when such things happen, in our culture you have to be punished. I expect to have all comforts when I visit my son-in-law if anything to the contrary happens and if he is responsible, directly or indirectly he has to compensate me for my troubles.

"All that said, the injury was not serious, I just fainted and developed a nasty bump on the back of my head. So you want to publish that in the newspaper? You cannot be serious, you should write serious stories that develop the nation," said Mr Nyathi.