Neighbour caned naked in goat row

By Gibson Mhaka

Love your neighbour as you love yourself. This Biblical advice had no meaning for Castro Ncube from Fox Farm in Matopo who teamed up with his wife and allegedly flogged their female neighbour with sticks on her back while naked leaving her unable to walk.

Tresia Ngulube said Ncube and his unnamed wife turned her into a subject of shame when they flogged her naked in full view of her male employees as punishment for breaking their goat’s leg.

Ngulube narrated her ordeal at the Bulawayo Civil Court where she was applying for a peace order against Ncube.

Ngulube sustained severe injuries as a result of the assault and was ferried in a wheelbarrow to her home as she was no longer able to walk.

“Castro Ncube is my neighbour at Fox Farm in Matopo. On 25 April this year he came with his wife to my house and physically assaulted me with sticks. They pushed me on to the ground before they lifted up my dress from the bottom.

“While I was naked they got on top of me and started assaulting me with sticks. They were accusing me of breaking their goat’s leg after it had strayed into my field.

“They even went on to destroy part of my house which is under construction. I sustained serious injuries as a result of the assault and I had to be ferried in a wheelbarrow as I could not walk,” said Ngulube.

Ncube, however, disputed his neighbour’s accusations saying she was the one who insulted them after they confronted her on why she broke their goat’s leg.

“That is not true. We found our goat’s leg broken and when we inquired from her domestic worker he told us, it was the applicant who was responsible. We then confronted the applicant and she started insulting us.

“I phoned the Veterinary Department and I was advised to report the matter to the police. When I was phoning the police the applicant was exchanging harsh words with my wife and at the height of the altercation she picked a brick intending to hit my wife but I blocked it before it struck me on the head.

“During the fight my wife had a baby strapped to her back and the applicant violently pushed her to the ground,” said Ncube.

After hearing both parties’ submissions, presiding magistrate Sheunesu Matova granted a binding order in which he ordered them to keep peace with each other and not to conduct themselves in a violent manner towards each other. B Metro