The Sunday News
Fairness Moyana
A 17-YEAR-OLD juvenile from Lusulu in Binga will rue the day he assaulted his 42-year-old stepmother whom he accused of telling his father that he had not spent the night at home.
The juvenile’s actions were described as taboo and disrespectful by Binga resident magistrate Mr Stephen Ndlovu who sentenced him to receive corporal punishment of two strokes with a rattan cane for his crime.
The court heard that on 9 June the accused’s father demanded to know where he had spent the night, which angered him as he failed to respond.
Later after his father had left, the accused then approached his step-mother and accused her of informing his father that he had not slept at home.
She denied having done that and this did not go down well with the juvenile who picked up a stick and went on to strike the complainant once on the head and left hand, resulting in her sustaining moderate injuries. She reported the matter to the police leading to his arrest. He pleaded guilty to the charge of assault.
Passing his sentence, Mr Ndlovu said the application of corporal punishment was meant to deter juveniles from committing such acts which were an abomination to society. “It is taboo to assault an elderly person especially your mother and in this case it makes no difference that she is your step-mother. It is this court’s hope that this sentence will deter such behaviour from our youths who attract bad luck and the wrath of God in the process of such abominable acts,” Mr Ndlovu said.
Mr Bruce Maphosa appeared for the State.
