News / Regional
Dad assaults daughter over 'eaten' napkin
06 May 2014 at 09:15hrs | Views
A 30-YEAR-OLD woman from Dibutibu village in Hwange received a thorough hiding from her 58-year-old father after she accused him of allowing one of his cows to "eat" her child's napkin.
The domestic dispute over the napkin later spilled into the courts. The daughter Sibonokuhle Masuku went to the police and filed charges of physical abuse against her father, George Masuku.
For the offence of turning his daughter into a punching bag, Masuku was brought before Victoria Falls resident magistrate Sharon Rosemani.
He did not waste the court's time when he quickly pleaded guilty to contravening Section 3(1) (a) of the Domestic Violence Act Chapter 5:16 (physical Abuse).
He was however, spared jail agony when he was fined $50.
In mitigation, Masuku stunned the court when he said as a father of the complainant he had every right to beat her up if she offended him.
"I had the right to beat her because she is my daughter. She has never been married because she is arrogant towards elderly people. She doesn't respect me and is a huge disgrace to the family so I thought by disciplining her it will change her bad behaviour," he said.
Incensed by Masuku's mitigatory statement the magistrate read him a riot act saying he should stop his barbaric behaviour of beating his daughter as a way of disciplining her but should find other ways of reprimanding her as a parent
For the State, prosecutor Onious Nyathi told the court that on 19 April, Masuku and his daughter had a misunderstanding after the complainant accused her father of letting One of his cows "eat" her child's napkin which she had soaked in a bucket.
The accusation did not go down well with Masuku who started exchanging harsh words with his daughter. In a fit of rage he started assaulting his daughter with fists before he struck her with an empty milking can.
After the assault the complainant went and reported the matter to the police leading to the arrest of the accused.
The domestic dispute over the napkin later spilled into the courts. The daughter Sibonokuhle Masuku went to the police and filed charges of physical abuse against her father, George Masuku.
For the offence of turning his daughter into a punching bag, Masuku was brought before Victoria Falls resident magistrate Sharon Rosemani.
He did not waste the court's time when he quickly pleaded guilty to contravening Section 3(1) (a) of the Domestic Violence Act Chapter 5:16 (physical Abuse).
He was however, spared jail agony when he was fined $50.
In mitigation, Masuku stunned the court when he said as a father of the complainant he had every right to beat her up if she offended him.
"I had the right to beat her because she is my daughter. She has never been married because she is arrogant towards elderly people. She doesn't respect me and is a huge disgrace to the family so I thought by disciplining her it will change her bad behaviour," he said.
Incensed by Masuku's mitigatory statement the magistrate read him a riot act saying he should stop his barbaric behaviour of beating his daughter as a way of disciplining her but should find other ways of reprimanding her as a parent
For the State, prosecutor Onious Nyathi told the court that on 19 April, Masuku and his daughter had a misunderstanding after the complainant accused her father of letting One of his cows "eat" her child's napkin which she had soaked in a bucket.
The accusation did not go down well with Masuku who started exchanging harsh words with his daughter. In a fit of rage he started assaulting his daughter with fists before he struck her with an empty milking can.
After the assault the complainant went and reported the matter to the police leading to the arrest of the accused.
Source - B-Metro
