News / National
2 men who both 'sired a 4 year old boy' lose custody bid
07 Jun 2012 at 06:19hrs | Views
TWO Epworth men who were fighting for the custody of a four-year-old boy lost their bids on Monday after the Civil Court granted custody to the mother. David Tafirenyika and Matthew Tswatswa claimed to have sired the child. The child's mother, Dadirai Mutete, made an application for custody and was granted.
Magistrate Mr Milton Serima told Tswatswa and Tafirenyika that the law requires that minor children be placed in their mother's custody.
"I am not giving the child to either Tswatswa or Tafirenyika, but I am looking at the best interest of the child. The fight between the two of you is another issue, hence custody of the child is awarded to its mother" he said.
Mutete told the court that she met Tafirenyika while she was already pregnant.
"I was married to Matthew Tswatswa and we had a misunderstanding while I was pregnant. We separated and that's when I met Tafirenyika and eloped to him. We stayed together for two years and the baby was born while I was staying with him. The baby regards him as the father," she said.
Mutete told the court that she later left Tafirenyika and went back to Tswatswa because he was not looking after her well. Tswatswa accepted her back and they had another baby. But Tafirenyika insisted that Mutete was not pregnant when he met her.
"She told me after we had stayed together that she had missed her monthly periods. The child was in my custody after she left for her former husband. All baby cards bear my name and I even named the child after my elder brother. How can she come back into my life now claiming that my four-year-old child belongs to Tswatswa, disrupting my life and confusing me."
Magistrate Mr Milton Serima told Tswatswa and Tafirenyika that the law requires that minor children be placed in their mother's custody.
"I am not giving the child to either Tswatswa or Tafirenyika, but I am looking at the best interest of the child. The fight between the two of you is another issue, hence custody of the child is awarded to its mother" he said.
Mutete told the court that she met Tafirenyika while she was already pregnant.
"I was married to Matthew Tswatswa and we had a misunderstanding while I was pregnant. We separated and that's when I met Tafirenyika and eloped to him. We stayed together for two years and the baby was born while I was staying with him. The baby regards him as the father," she said.
Mutete told the court that she later left Tafirenyika and went back to Tswatswa because he was not looking after her well. Tswatswa accepted her back and they had another baby. But Tafirenyika insisted that Mutete was not pregnant when he met her.
"She told me after we had stayed together that she had missed her monthly periods. The child was in my custody after she left for her former husband. All baby cards bear my name and I even named the child after my elder brother. How can she come back into my life now claiming that my four-year-old child belongs to Tswatswa, disrupting my life and confusing me."
Source - Court
