Teen loses eye in 'father-in-law' assault

A 17-YEAR-OLD boy lost his eye after he was struck with an axe by a 72-year-old man who found him in his daughter's bedroom at midnight.

Mr Makhathi Ndlovu, the village head of Sikhamazwi area at Dzembe Village in Maphisa, allegedly hit Maclean Ncube until his eye popped out of its socket.

The incident occurred on July 28 and has divided the village.

Some villagers said they felt Ndlovu was too heavy handed with the boy while some accuse him of bribing the police to avoid going to court.

Mr Ndlovu allegedly went haywire when he found Maclean with his daughter that he attends the same school with.

Maclean is in Form 4 and the girl (16) is in Form 3.

Maclean was rushed to Maphisa Hospital where he was referred to the United Bulawayo Hospital's Richard Morris Centre for treatment.  Doctors at the centre said his eye could not be salvaged and they had to surgically remove it.

Maclean's uncle, Mr Simayedwa Nyathi, said he was unhappy with the way his neighbour Mr Ndlovu dealt with the matter.

"Children will always be children and they should be disciplined when they misbehave. However, we feel the headman's punishment was too extreme," said Mr Nyathi.

He said Maclean was an orphan and would feel that he went through such treatment because he has no one to protect him.

"I wouldn't have had a problem if he had caned him like a child is disciplined, but this disability will now serve as a permanent reminder of the brutality which he administered on my child. He is going around boasting that we reported him to the police but there is nothing that they can do about it as he is a respected headman. He has even threatened to get us banished from the village if we try to pursue the matter," said Mr Nyathi.

He said police told them that Mr Ndlovu was taken to court where he was discharged.

"But I do not remember a single day when my nephew as the complainant was called to testify in court. I feel that the law has been very unfair to us," said Mr Nyathi.

"The medical report states that my nephew suffered serious injuries which were life threatening. When he was arrested, the charge was attempted murder, however, I wonder how somebody can be warned and cautioned before being discharged for such a grave offence," he added.

Mr Ndlovu was away when The Chronicle visited his homestead on Friday. His wife said he was in Bulawayo attending to family business. She said she was aware of the matter but had been told that her husband hit a thief with a stone at night.

"I remember on the day it happened. My husband heard dogs barking and went outside at around midnight. He came back and didn't tell me anything. Later on he said he had hit somebody who was in the yard with a stone before they fled. When I woke up the next morning there was blood in the yard trailing from the girls' huts to the gate," said Mrs Ndlovu.

A neighbour who spoke to The Chronicle, Mr Johnson Dube, said the matter had divided the village and had made life tense.

"We respected the village head as our father. However, he is not showing remorse after doing such a thing and we have lost respect for him. He may have done that in anger but by now he should have at least approached the family and apologised."

Matabeleland South police spokesperson Inspector Philisani Ndebele said he had not yet received a report on the matter.