A Bulawayo woman filed a complaint against her live-in boyfriend for allegedly beating her up as punishment for sneaking out of the house at night to her secret nocturnal escapades leaving him and the children sound asleep.
Patience Phiri from Cowdray Park claimed she had been turned into a punching bag by her violent lover Stanford Dube who accuses her of being a prostitute.
She said even when she got a job, the seemingly possessive Dube would lock her inside the house preventing her from going to work apparently suspecting that she would be seeing other men.
Phiri exposed her live-in boyfriend’s abuse at the Bulawayo Civil Court where she sued him for disturbing her peace
The respondent (Stanford Dube) is my live-in boyfriend and is violent. He is always physically abusing me especially when he is drunk. As a result of his abuse I sustained a broken finger and had bruises all over my body. He calls me a prostitute and does not allow me to go to work.
“If I got a job he would make sure that I lose it by locking me inside the house. On 19 July he brutally assaulted me after I had gone next door to look for food and he suspected that I had gone to see another man. I want the court to protect me since I am now living in fear,” said Phiri.
Dube in response said Phiri’s love for night activities was the source of the problems bedevilling their relationship.
“The reason why I ended up assaulting her is that I always remain with the children alone after she would have sneaked out of the house at night. I can say her behaviour of going out at night is the cause of the problems in our relationship,” said Dube.
In his ruling the magistrate Manasa Musiiwa, however, ordered Dube to desist from abusing his lover physically, verbally, or threaten her in any way.