Woman allegedly takes call from lover in husband’s presence… tells him to lower TV volume

By Gibson Mhaka

Well, isn’t it strange that a wife answers her boyfriend’s phone calls in the presence of her husband? Wonder no more, a Bulawayo man, Ronald Dhliwayo, claimed he beat up his wife Thabani Dhliwayo after she ordered him to lower the volume of their television set so that she could take her boyfriend’s phone call.

Ronald from Famona suburb said moments later he flew into rage when he heard his wife addressing her alleged boyfriend as “sweety” while thanking him for the phone he had allegedly bought her.

As if that was not enough she also talked about going to the New Start Centre supposedly for HIV testing.

“My wife is abusive and aggressive. I have made several reports at Hillside Police Station about her attacks on me.

She once attacked me with an iron bar and I did not fight back. I just went and sought medication at Mater Dei Hospital,” said Ronald, while responding to his wife’s accusations that he was abusing her.

He said the day he beat her up she was the one who had provoked him.

“She once assaulted me with a golf club and it was by the grace of God that she didn’t injure me. The day I assaulted her she was the one who provoked me. Just imagine what she did when I was watching television with our three-year-old son.

“When her phone rang she asked me to lower the volume of the television so that she could speak to her boyfriend who she later addressed as ‘sweety’ while thanking him for the phone he had bought her.

“She also talked about going to the New Start Centre and that caused me to lose my temper and I assaulted her with open hands,” added Ronald.

He further said his wife was monitoring his phone and she got numbers of his “female” friends and started phoning them while also insulting them.

His remarks came after Thabani, who was seeking a protection order against him, claimed he was in the habit of verbally and physically abusing her.

“Ronald is verbally and physically abusing me. He insults me saying I am a prostitute, I am useless and that there are other women who are better than me. He does not even treat me as his wife.

“At home I am no longer living in peace because of his violent behaviour and I fear that he might harm me,” said Thabani.

She, however, disputed her husband’s accusations before labelling him a “pathological liar”.

“He is lying just because I have decided to seek a protection order against him. I am not abusive as he has alleged.

Ronald is a pathological liar. I also have evidence on his escapades,” she said.

Meanwhile, in a bid to save the two parties’ marriage which is apparently on the brink of collapse, presiding magistrate Sheunesu Matova ordered them not to verbally and physically abuse each other. He also referred them for counselling. B Metro