The Sunday News
Limpret Moyo, Sunday News Reporter
A 27-year-old police officer was left nursing an injured thumb after a 63-year-old kombi driver bit him while was resisting arrest at Basch Street Terminus popularly known as Egodini in Bulawayo.
The confrontation is said to have started after Constable Elisha Dzongomani who was in plain clothes with two other officers approached Moses Banda and informed him that he was under arrest for touting at an undesignated area. Banda allegedly turned violent and bit Const Dzongomani’s thumb.
A court heard that Const Dzongomani sought medical attention at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) following the attack.
Banda appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Ms Gladmore Mushove facing a charge of assault last week. He pleaded not guilty and Ms Mushove remanded him out of custody to tomorrow for continuation of trial. Testifying in court, Const Dzongomani said Banda became violent to evade arrest.
“I introduced myself as a police officer to him and told him he was under arrest. I managed to cuff one hand and when I tried the second he bit me on the thumb and my colleagues Constables Leonard Mushava and Nyaratiani Dube had to intervene,” he said.
Through his lawyer Mr Thomas Gamure of Mudenda Attorneys, Banda said he bit the police officer in self-defence.
“He was not aware that Constable Dzongomani was a police officer. The alleged assault was a reaction of a person who had been put in an uncomfortable position. The officers caused him pain during the arrest and the only thing he could use was his teeth,” said Mr Gamure.
Prosecuting, Ms Memory Takaedza said the assault occurred on 6 September at about 11am.
