Men bash women at court over child support
So bad is the situation that some men have manhandled their estranged wives in the presence of law enforcement agents after being forced by the courts to give their ex-wives a cheque every month.
For most of these men, feelings of overwhelming resentment, anger and bitterness can be seen written all over their faces.
And it cuts across the entire gamut of men, from those who are struggling financially, all the way to men who have millions.
It does not make a difference.
Most hate to pay.
In most cases, the hubby finds out the estranged wife is in love with another man who is probably living with their kids, and he still has to give her a cheque every month, otherwise he will go to jail.
Others, usually in default for months, are shocked by the quantum of the cash they have to shell out and the tight deadlines set by the courts to settle the due amount.
Unable to make peace with this reality, some are taking the law into their own hands.
A security boss recently assaulted his ex-wife within the Rotten Row court building in the full glare of court officials after being ordered to pay
$42 000 maintenance arrears for his three children.
Irked by the ruling, Livieson Pamuchigere, 44, slapped and grabbed his wife Cathrin by the neck in an attempt to strangle her as they exited the court room.
Court proceedings had to briefly halt as members of the gallery and court officials watched the fracas in shock.
The incident occurred after Harare magistrate Trevor Nyatsanza gave him a five to 10-month wholly suspended sentence on condition that he deposits $2 000 as down payment by 3pm of the same day for defaulting on maintenance.
Nyatsanza also ordered Pamuchigere to deposit $42 000 into their joint account on or before March 31, 2019 and that he pays a minimum of
$4 000 on or before the first day of every month.
When he saw prison and police officers manning the courts rushing to the aide of Cathrine, Pamuchigere fled the court building.
Police officers gave chase and apprehended the father of three in the court’s car park as he attempted to flee.
As he was being dragged back to be handed over to the officer-in-charge at the courts, a seemingly angry and panting Pamuchigere shouted to journalists: “You are busy taking my pictures? I don’t care.”
He was charged under the Domestic Violence Act.
Another Harare man allegedly attempted to strangle his wife in the presence of a police officer after she reported him for defaulting on child support.
According to court papers, Edzai Madokero, 45, grabbed his wife Debra Anna Mandizha by the neck as she drove him to court following his arrest.
As Nyamutawatawa was strangling his wife, he reportedly shouted: “Kusiri kufa ndekupi? Ndofa newe!” roughly translated “I am as good as dead? I’ll rather die with you!”
He reportedly failed to keep up payment for his four minor children and the maintenance arrears accrued to $1 120.
Nyamutawatawa was charged with one count of attempted murder and is currently on trial.
He was supposed to pay $160 per month in respect of his four minor children from October last year.
From the time the order was made, the father of four reportedly never paid a cent towards the upkeep of his children, accruing arrears of $1 120 as at April this year.
Experts say the issue is not women extorting child support from men, the issue is angry men who allow their negative emotions to cause them to forget their responsibility to their children.
Child support has always been a thorny issue amongst many.
On the flip side, there are women who lie to men that they sired their child, forcing the men to sign an admission of paternity and start making the obligatory monthly child support payments.
Most men discover later that they are not the baby’s daddy after all.
What now? What about the over $20 000 in and all that money paid in child support payments you are not entitled to get that money back.
Some lawyers have tried to retrieve the money with little success.
In 2015, it was revealed that 72 percent of Harare men who challenged the paternity of children whom they were paying maintenance for were not the biological fathers.
In January this year, an Epworth woman who sought two different birth certificates for her daughter before claiming maintenance from two fathers was sentenced to 30 days in jail with an option of $80 jail.
Stella Kwanisai was convicted of violating the Births Registrations Act after she registered Kenias Chizema and Solver Nyaude as the fathers in the two birth certificates she acquired from the Registrar General’s office.
In Gweru, another woman claimed maintenance from two men. She was arrested for fraud. After the court ordered a paternity test, it emerged that neither men were the child’s biological father.
Sindiso Siyapi and Ezekiel Chifamba had paid maintenance for three years before the matter came to light. Daily News.
