A BULAWAYO man heaved a sigh of relief yesterday after he was spared prison life and fined $50 or three months in jail for slapping and kicking a girl who had ignored his advances when he tried to speak to her in Makokoba.
SENIOR COURT REPORTER
Taringwanashe Tsvangirai (27) of Mzilikazi was convicted on his own plea of guilty to assault when he appeared before Bulawayo senior provincial magistrate Abednico Ndebele.
Sentencing him, Ndebele warned Tsvangirai against going around assaulting people saying he risked incarceration if he committed a similar offence again.
Prosecutor Raymond Makhaza told the court that on January 19, Tsvangirai was walking along 4th Street in Makokoba in the late afternoon when he encountered the girl going home alone. Tsvangirai spoke to the girl, but she did not respond. He pestered her, but she continued to ignore him.
He was angered by the apparent snub and slapped the girl on the cheek and also kicked her on the leg.
The girl went home and told her parents, who reported the matter to the police, leading to Tsvangirai’s arrest.
