Woman attacks mother-in-law with a brick

IN an incident that is viewed as taboo, a woman from Mzilikazi in Bulawayo struck her sister's mother-in-law with a brick after she refused to allow her to take her niece.

Sizalokuhle Siwela pleaded guilty to assaulting her sister's mother-in-law, Senzeni Masuku, with a brick when she appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Tinashe Tashinga yesterday, but said the mother-in-law was the aggressor and she was just retaliating.

The magistrate convicted and remanded her out of custody to January 15 for sentencing.

"Why did you assault someone regarded as your mother-in-law?" asked Tashinga.

"She was the one who started the fight," Siwela responded.

"I had a child strapped to my back and she was the aggressor, so I retaliated."

The court heard that on December 30 last year Siwela and her younger sister went to Masuku's home in Mzilikazi to collect her sister's child from the mother-in-law, the child's grandmother.

It is the State's case that when she raised the issue with Masuku, there was misunderstanding between them, as the mother-in-law refused to allow the child to go with her mother.

Siwela picked a brick and struck Masuku once on the face with it.

Masuku sustained a deep cut and was taken to Mpilo Central Hospital, where she received treatment.

A report was made to the police, leading to Siwela's arrest.