Hubby cheats with maid, crashes car with pregnant wife inside

TODAY we are going to die in this car!

Those were the words of a husband, who after allegedly being caught cheating with the maid, deliberately attempted to commit suicide with his pregnant wife in the car.

Bulawayo residents were on Wednesday around 8 am treated to a free movie when Desire Charingeni and his wife Edith Mutanda had an epic fight in a speeding car that swerved off the road and seriously injured a pedestrian.

The couple from Parklands suburb fought all the way from their home until their Honda Fit car careened off the road at the intersection along 25th Avenue and Matopos Road.

Velaphi Zhou, an assistant builder who was taking a walk while awaiting delivery of cement for a project he was working on, sustained a fractured shin when the car hit him as it hurtled towards a precast wall that it destroyed before coming to a stop.

Bewildered residents rushed to the vehicle which was stuck in the wall and found the warring couple still throwing verbal barbs at each other.

Witnesses said Charingeni- who was later stretchered off to the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) complaining of back pain- claimed his wife had grabbed the steering, forcing him off the road.

Matanda hotly disputed the accusation saying Charingeni had threatened to deliberately crash the vehicle after she demanded divorce.

"I didn't touch the steering. He said he once had an accident in the car but this time he would make sure we die in the second one," said an emotional Matanda.

"After dropping our child off at school, we had agreed to go to (Bulawayo) Central Police (Station) to get assistance with a divorce. He has been sleeping with the maid," she said.

She said her husband floored the accelerator as he threatened to end their lives, resulting in the scary accident.

When the B-Metro crew arrived at the scene, Matanda looked overwhelmed with despair as she sat on a lawn alongside one of the houses. She had started venting out her frustration on the news crew when a suspected relative stopped her.

Charingeni and Dube were taken to UBH and the car was still stuck in the wall.

Bulawayo Police Spokesperson Inspector Abedinico Ncube could only confirm the crash yesterday.

"Circumstances are that the first party was driving due South along Matopos Road when he failed to keep his vehicle under control and veered off the road to the right side resulting in him hitting the second party who was walking due south. First party went on to hit the brick wall (durawall) of number 01, 25th Avenue Famona, Bulawayo," said the police spokesperson.

Charingeni has been charged with negligent driving and his car has been taken to the Vehicle Inspection (VID) depot for inspection.