Man teams up with son, tie wife to tree

A MAN from Siganda, Matabeleland North, who had a dispute with his wife, teamed up with his son and tied her to a tree.

Themba Agent Nkala last month had a physical confrontation with his wife Pauline Phiri with whom he sired several children. Maybe as a sign, Phiri should have noticed that her husband was a no-nonsense person because he christened one of their children Viva Saddam Nkala.

"Viva Saddam" is a phrase that confesses support for slain Iraq leader Saddam Hussein.

This was revealed in court where Viva Saddam and his father appeared for the "tree arrest" crime.

"This woman is abusive and she always insults me in the presence of our children. She says I am useless and I fail to fend for my children. At times she slaps me with open hands. On 5 December at 8pm, she began to insult me and strangled me, that is when Saddam had to intervene to rescue me and we had to tie her to a tree. Your Worship I'm fed up with this woman because she also denies me conjugal rights," Nkala said in court.

Magistrate Mr Ndumo Masuku in circuit in Nyathi, however, found Nkala and his son guilty of violating the Domestic Violence Act and sentenced them to two weeks in prison.