Man strangles, attempts to hang father over food

A 63-YEAR-OLD Mangwe amplified the meaning of the adage 'a hungry man is an angry man' when he tied a noose around his 86-year-old father's neck and dragged him around the house in protest over being given a small portion of food.

Plumtree magistrate, Livard Philimoni heard how Gerald Ndlovu, strangled his father until he became unconscious.

The magistrate was so shocked by the sheer brutality of the act that he ordered Ndlovu to undergo psychiatric evaluation before continuation of trial.

The trial was deferred to 3 March when doctors are expected to have compiled a medical report.

Ndlovu acted strangely in court and appeared confused.

He sometimes referred to the magistrate as the public prosecutor.

There lighter moments when Ndlovu insisted he wanted to speak in English and proceeded to butcher the language.

He said he did not want to use Ndebele because he thought the prosecutor might misinterpret him.

"I do not trust the prosecutor because he has a shona accent. I doubt that he would be able to interpret my statements correctly," said Ndlovu.

Prosecuting, Stanley Chinyanganya narrated how Ndlovu almost killed his aged father on Christmas day last year.

He said Ndlovu warned his father of dire consequences if he did not increase the portion on his plate, before launching into the assault.

"The complainant arrived home on 25 December last year from church. He dished food for himself and the accused person who went on to complainant that the food was not enough. The accused person took a rope which he tied around his father's neck and started pulling him around. He force marched him to his bedroom and threatened to kill him," he said.

Chinyanganya said Ndlovu left his father lying unconscious after he failed to find a place to hang him in his bedroom hut.

When he recovered, the complainant reported the matter to the police leading to the accused person's arrest.