'Court order destroys marriage'

REFUSING to acknowledge the existence of a protection order granted to his wife against him, a Mutare man told the court that the order had to be cancelled since it was demeaning his position as the head of the family.

All this was revealed when Lovemore Sigauke pleaded guilty to charges of breaching a court order before Mutare magistrate, Mr Poterai Gwezhira.

The court had granted a protection order to Sigauke's wife, Agatha against him after she had described him as a violent person who always assaulted her.

Prosecuting was Mr Donald Mudadirwa.

"Sigauke breached a court order granted on September 29, 2015 to his wife Agatha Sigauke and assaulted her. Sigauke told the complainant that the fact that there was a court order would not deter him from assaulting her and went on to do so," said Mr Mudadirwa.

Despite pleading guilty, Sigauke begged the court to annul the protection order, saying it was breaking his marriage by demeaning his position as the head of the family.

"Your Worship, I did breach the order and assaulted her, but that was after she had started undermining my authority. Since the granting of that order, Agatha has been behaving badly.

"She ignores and disrespects me. On the day in question she had refused to cook for me before I left for work because she claimed that she was tired. I had to cook for myself so I decided to teach her a lesson," he prayed for the annulment.

Sigauke was fined $150 or risk three months imprisonment.