The minor, who testified as state witness via television, told the court that: Muhezva and Dengu came to our homestead and started cutting off a wire erected by my father to demarcate our plot from our neighbours. They asked my father if he was aware that they could beat him up. Muhezva slapped my father in the face. The two proceeded to hit my father with logs as he lay on the ground, in full view of me and my younger brother. They continued beating him randomly with logs in the face and all over the body.
We cried for help but no one came to my fathers rescue as other villagers were away attending a meeting. The beatings continued for sometime. When my father later managed to make good his escape, the war veterans picked up a machete and pliers from the yard and pursued him threatening to finish him off. Muhezvas wife urged the assailants to finish their victim without wasting time, said the grade four child
witness.
In cross examination with the accused, the girl dismissed as false allegations by the war veterans that her father was the one who provoked them.
In their defence statement, Dengu and Muhezva denied ever attacking Maulani. They
claimed Maulani broke his shoulder after he scaled a wire barricade and fell. They also claimed misunderstandings started when they approached Maulani to enquire as to why he had demarcated his plot with a wire without leaving a gate to facilitate free passage of other villagers. The claims were dismissed by the victims daughter.
Medical reports and X-rays suggested Maulani sustained a broken shoulder in the attack. He attended the court in an arm sling to support the injury. The trial was adjourned to December 14 and the two accused were given US$50 bail.
Post published in: News