By Stanford Chiwanga
An unidentified Bulawayo man is said to have involuntarily defecated on himself after he was caught and beaten for stealing a cellphone from a female passenger in a commuter omnibus that was travelling from the city centre to Nkulumane 5 high-density suburb last Thursday.
The man, who was visibly drunk, is said to have been talkative and unruly from the moment he boarded the kombi at Egodini bus terminus.
Events took a turn for the worst as the man verbally and physically abused a male passenger who had asked him to be quiet. Other passengers intervened, rescued the victim from punishment and threatened to beat the riotous drunk.
The fear of a beating saw the man calming down but as the kombi neared Nkulumane 5 high-density suburb he pulled one more stunt that backfired badly for him.
The worst came when the man attempted to steal a cellphone from a female passenger who was sitting next to him. The female passenger detected the man as he was pulling the cellphone, believed to be an htc, out of her side pocket.
She informed other passengers of what the man was attempting to do. Fellow passengers, fed up with the drunkard’s antics, lost their tempers and pummelled the man to submission resulting in him defecating loose stool in his pants.
He also vomited.
The assault was stopped the moment the passengers realised that the beating had induced diarrhoea. On realising that the man had soiled himself, the passengers reached a consensus to chuck out the now whimpering and apologetic man from the commuter omnibus because they could not stand the reek of his stool and vomit.
He was not allowed to walk away before he cleaned his vomit from the commuter omnibus using a cloth, soap and water from a 5-litre bottle.
Mr David Sibanda, the driver of the kombi, confirmed the incident and said the man could have caused an accident had he been allowed to continue being a menace.
“I had to stop the kombi twice because of the commotion that was being caused by that man otherwise if I didn’t I risked an accident and all the blame could have been on me. At first I had to stop when he was beating a passenger and then I had to stop when he was being beaten.
“The passengers ordered me to throw him out of the vehicle and I did that because I didn’t want anymore problems. Besides the man was smelling and I didn’t want to drive with such a pervading smell in my car,’’ said Mr Sibanda.
The commuter omnibus conductor, one Thabani, said he sensed trouble the moment the man entered the kombi.
“I was reluctant to allow him to travel with us because he was quarrelsome even before he boarded the kombi. My fears were proved right when he fought with that man. But wherever he is, he is embarrassed by what happened. I hope he has learnt a lesson and will stop misbehaving,’’ said Thabani. Sunday News
