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Second witness for Biti assault case

by Staff reporter
10 May 2023 at 00:55hrs | Views
Deputy Prosecutor General Mr Micheal Reza will today call his second witness to testify in Tendai Biti's assault case.

This comes after the first witness Mrs Tatiana Aleshina finished her cross examination last week with Tendai Biti's lawyer Mr Alec Muchadeha.

The CCC legislator is facing charges of assaulting businesswoman and investor Mrs Tatiana Aleshina at the Magistrates Court which resulted in her being admitted at Trauma Centre in Borrowdale.

During her testimony Mrs Aleshina said she went to Trauma Centre to get treatment as her shoulders were very painful.

While leading evidence Mr Reza asked Mrs Aleshina what went through her mind during the incident and she replied that she was traumatized and thought Biti was about attack her as he was very aggressive, shouting and pointing his finger at her.

Mrs Aleshina told the court that she froze when Biti charged towards her and felt he will physically attack her.

"As we were walking in the corridor l suddenly heard a noise and shouting behind my back."

Mrs Aleshina said and then she immediately stopped in shock only to see a huge giant person, Tendai Biti with a crowd of people charging towards her.

She further stated that she had never came across that type of unruly behaviour in her all life.

She told the court that Biti was aggressive and pointing his finger at her face while shouting "you stupid stupid stupid idiot and was shaking his body in an aggressive and angry way".

"I did not understand what was going on and I asked him are you talking to me but he continued his aggressive behaviour shouting and pointing at my face. After that my colleague Michael Van Blerk then tried to protect me and stood in front of me, but someone said it's not right, it's dangerous here and you need to go," Mrs Aleshina told court.

Reza asked Mrs Aleshina to describe how she felt, she explained "I felt he would physically hit me."

I believed at that moment I was in danger. I thought he could kill me. I was shaken and humiliated and disturbed."

Mrs Aleshina said after the incident she felt confused and he wandered around the court for some minutes looking for an exit point.

"On my way out someone asked me why Biti was shouting at you and l couldn't answer that. Someone else then said Biti can't treat women like that you need to report him to police. I decided to go to the Russian Embassy and tell them what happened. They calmed me down and advised me to go to the police to report the matter.''

She said while at the police she discovered that her half body was numb and could not move, even her hand to sign. Then the police offered to assist her to go to Harare Hospital but she then instead ended up being taken to Borrowdale Trauma Centre where she got treatment and was not in a good condition, prompting them to put on a drip and admitted her.

Mrs Aleshina told the court that Biti's behaviour was unprofessional given that he is a prominent lawyer.

"When Biti charged towards me he was very aggressive and in my mind I thought he was going to kill me," she said.

Source - The Herald