A GWANDA woman allegedly assaulted her house maid with a cooking stick on her private parts until she bled profusely as she accused her of sleeping around with men.
The prosecutor Edward Ndlovu told the court that the woman, 33, of Freda Mine in the Gwanda District had physically abused her maid, 16, on her private parts using a cooking stick after she accused her of being immoral by having sex with men of different ages.
“Sometime during September this year, the accused left her home for South Africa leaving the girl with her husband and her nephew.
When she returned from South Africa, she physically assaulted the complainant several times all over the body with clenched fists and with a cooking stick on the v*gina claiming that the complainant had sex with several men while she was in South Africa.
As a result of the assault, the complainant bled on the v*gina and through the nose,” said Ndlovu.
The woman is said to have continued physically abusing the girl on several occasions, a move that irked the anger of other residents.
State witnesses Sitshengisiwe Moyo and Getrude Sibanda who are neighbours to the accused woman told the court that they had heard the girl being bashed and insulted by the woman on several occasions.
Moyo said the woman also severely assaulted the girl accusing her of being pregnant, the claims which were later discovered to be false.
“The accused once assaulted the girl accusing her that she was smelling of semen all over her body and later asked me to take her to her boyfriend whom she alleged had impregnated her. However, we discovered that the girl was not pregnant,” said Moyo.
The court heard that a group of Freda Mine residents once tried to advise the accused person to stop ill-treating the girl, but to no avail.
“I am the one who reported the matter to Child line Bulawayo because as neighbours we were really pained by the way the child was ill-treated. Of late, the girl has been showing signs of sadness. This woman once beat her to an extent that she could not walk.
“The accused person told me that the complainant was being naughty and mischievous as she had had sex with several men and boys,” said Sibanda.
However, the woman denied the allegations when she appeared before Gwanda magistrate Arafat Kozanai saying that she had never at any time assaulted the girl.
Maid