A BULAWAYO woman last week came home drunk and bashed her sick husband and children before hiding their food in order to make them starve. Greater Chitengu (43), of Entumbane suburb, is alleged to always beat up her husband, Mulenga Ncube (63), and her children when drunk.
This was revealed when Nompumelelo Ncube (25), one of the children, appeared before magistrate Ms Evelyn Mashavakure, applying for a protection order against her mother.
She told the court that when Chitengu is drunk, she becomes violent to everyone in the house.
“Your Worship, she is our mother but she does not treat us as her children. She beats us every time when she comes home drunk. She even beats my father who is suffering from a stroke. The whole family is affected by her behaviour. There is no peace when she is at home, so I am here to apply for the law to protect us from what we are experiencing at home.
“When she is at home, she cooks only her share and she does not share with us. She hides the food and we spend the whole day hungry. I have to ask for food from my neighbours to give my father and siblings. She normally leaves home in the morning to the beer hall and comes back in the evening, sometimes she does not come back the same day,” she said.
However, Chitengu denied ever beating up her family.
“I have never done such a thing. What I know is that Nompumelelo went to live with her boyfriend in Mahatshula for two years. The boyfriend was arrested, she has now come back to cause trouble in the family,” she said.
The magistrate granted the protection order. She ordered Chitengu to stop threatening and beating up her family. She also ordered both of them to go for counselling.