Woman loses ear in fight over nappies

By Fairness Moyana

A BINGA woman shocked villagers in Lubu Village under Chief Saba when she bit off the whole ear of a woman she shares a husband with while fighting over nappies.

Juliet Zulu (21), the second wife in a polygamous marriage, had a misunderstanding with her husband, Chita Mwinde’s first wife, Georgina Muleya.

Zulu accused Muleya of using her baby’s nappies.

Zulu pleaded guilty when she appeared before Binga resident magistrate Mrs Ailenne Munamati facing a domestic violence charge and was slapped with a 30-month jail term of which 12 months were suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.

However, Zulu’s pleas for leniency failed to yield much as Mrs Munamati told her that in spite of the fact that she had two children, a two-year-old and two-month-old, she could not hand her an alternative punishment to jail time.

“There is no other alternative punishment I can give you that is appropriate, except prison even if we were to take into consideration that you have two children with one still breastfeeding. What you did is serious and a deterrent sentence needs to be passed as a message to would-be offenders,” she said.

The court heard that on 27 July this year, Zulu saw Muleya washing her nappies and inquired as to why they looked like hers. Muleya told her that the nappies belonged to her. However, Zulu was convinced otherwise and called the senior wife a thief before all hell broke loose.

A verbal war erupted between the two before it turned physical with Zulu biting off Muleya’s whole left ear.

It was the swift intervention of the two’s husband that saved Muleya from losing another ear.

She was rushed to Binga district hospital where efforts to reattach the torn ear were fruitless. Meanwhile, a report was made to police in Lubu, leading to Zulu’s subsequent arrest.

Mr Bruce Maphosa appeared for the State. Sunday News