Zim woman seeks protection, abusive hubby barring her from going to work

A Harare woman, Tshiwe Zhou approached the courts for a protection order claiming that her husband Alexander Chigova was barring her from going to work.

Chigova confirmed locking her up but argued that it was meant to protect their marriage, which was on the rocks because Zhou always came home late. "He is very violent and he always threatens to kill me. At one point he locks me inside the house barring me to go to work and threatening to go to my bosses and get me fired, yet I am the one looking after the family," she said.

The court heard Chigova once disappeared for three weeks but returned home more violent. Chigova did not deny the allegations but told the court that his wife's work was destroying his marriage.

"It's true I became violent and I threatened her because I was very angry. She comes from work between 8pm and 9pm and sometimes she does not sleep at home. When I ask her she becomes bitter. I locked her inside that day because I had noticed that my marriage was being broken because of her work. It's better for us to stay home and be poor than her job to destroy my marriage," he said.

Magistrate Ms Bianca Makwande granted the protection order.