A MIDLANDS State University (MSU) lecturer was yesterday acquitted on assault charges after his wife had taken him to court following a misunderstanding over a toothbrush.
Stephen Chadenga
Gweru magistrate Phathekile Msipa ruled that the State had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Peter Makaye had assaulted his wife.
It was the State’s case that Makaye, a department of History and Development Studies lecturer allegedly assaulted Judith Karimanzira with a wooden plank after she failed to give him a toothbrush when he arrived home from a beer drink.
The State further alleged that on August 21 2009 at around 11:30pm, the accused arrived home from a beer drink and found the complainant asleep. Makaye allegedly demanded his toothbrush, but the complainant failed to locate it.
A misunderstanding ensued resulting in the accused moving out of the house with the complainant following begging him to come back. Makaye allegedly picked up a wooden plank in the yard and assaulted his wife once on her back and left arm resulting in her sustaining a broken arm.
But in his defence the lecturer said his wife —with whom he is on separation — was a person of a violent disposition, who frequently attacked him during their troubled marriage.
Makaye said his wife made false allegations after the civil court dismissed her maintenance variation application for the upkeep of their son.
