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Daniel Nemukuyu Senior Court Reporter
A Chinhoyi man who fatally stabbed his wife after he caught her being intimate with another man in a bushy area, has been jailed five years. Innocent Jairo (24) of Chambati Village in Kenzamba, Mashonaland West Province, was married to Ms Nyarai Tandeude who was 43-years-old. Initially, Jairo was being charged with murder, but High Court judge Justice Herbert Chitapi found him guilty of culpable homicide.

Justice Chitapi found Jairo with a lesser offence after the parties filed a statement of agreed facts showing that the killing was not intentional. The judge bemoaned domestic violence, saying it had no place in a democratic society like Zimbabwe. “Domestic violence should not have a place in today’s world.

“The days of spouses not respecting each other’s bodily integrity are gone and should be gone forever.

“Even if the accused was livid with anger at having seen the deceased in what he thought was a compromising position with another man whom he did not identify, the solution did not lie in fighting, especially since he was not sure whether the deceased and the mysterious man had had sexual intercourse but in dialogue,” said Justice Chitapi.

Facts are that on January 30 last year, the couple had a misunderstanding with Jairo, accusing his wife of having an affair with another man from the neighbouring village. The wife sought refuge at her parents’ homestead. Jairo followed up on his wife and they settled their dispute.

He later took his wife and bade farewell to his in-laws. On their way home, the man left his wife seated under a tree and went away to sell his cellphone to raise bus fare. On his return, Jairo found his wife already in a compromising position with another man.

He failed to control his anger, resulting in the fatal stabbing of the woman. The woman’s father heard his daughter’s cry and rushed to investigate. He took the wounded woman back to the homestead.

She later died.
A police report was made, leading to Jairo’s arrest.