Woman bites another's eye in village catfight

A woman from Chimoyo Village in Fort Rixon, Matebeleland South province was left with scars and a swollen eye after a fellow villager allegedly struck her with a machete before biting her eye during a fight over an undisclosed issue.

Girue Runyoka appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Nomagugu Maphosa facing a charge of assault.

She pleaded not guilty to the charge and was remanded out of custody. The State is going to proceed by way of summons for commencement of trial.

Allegations against Runyoka are that on 23 April and at around 5am, she went to Beauty Mukora's homestead and when she got there she found her in the kitchen.

She struck her once on the head with a machete and went on to bite her once on the eye. Mukora screamed for help and that is when a family member came and stopped Runyoka from further assaulting the victim.

The matter was reported to the police and investigations led to the arrest of Runyoka.

Mukora was referred to hospital for medical attention and a medical report was produced in court as evidence.

In her defence, Runyoka said that she did not assault Mukora but she acted in self-defence since they were fighting.

"We were fighting and she also bit me on my eye and l have injuries all over my body to prove that l was also assaulted by the complainant," she said.