Man sleeps with gun under his pillow to intimidate wife

A Harare man reportedly slept with a gun under his pillow to instil fear into his wife whom he accused of being violent. Cuthbert Gweshe allegedly threatened to shoot his wife, Angela Femberwi and their children before killing himself, the Harare Civil Court heard yesterday.

Femberwi who was seeking a protection order against Gweshe yesterday told magistrate Mrs Marehwanazvo Gofa he also severely assaults her and accuses her of neglecting their children.

"I want the court to stop my husband from coming to my house because he assaults me threatening to kill me and the children are now afraid of him," she said.

"He is threatening to kill me and my relatives and he sleeps with a gun under his pillow. He said that if I make any silly move towards him he would kill me," added Femberwi.

Gweshe refuted his wife's allegations. He told the court that since they separated, he only visited Femberwi once inquiring about the children's performance at school.

"She is lying," Gweshe said. "The only time I went to her house is when I wanted to tell her that one of our children was watching pornography."

"I was concerned about our child because this was affecting his grades at school. I have never abused her or threatened to eliminate her as she is alleging," he said.

Gweshe told the court that Femberwi was the violent one and the court should protect him instead.

Mrs Gofa ordered Gweshe to keep peace with his wife and refrain from threatening her.