An officer in the Zimbabwe National Army’s Presidential Guard unit brutally assaulted his wife and her parents after discovering his spouse was HIV positive. Nyasha Nzara a senior official in the elite Presidential Guard unit ran amok and assaulted his wife and her parents, accusing them of concealing the woman’s HIV status.
Nzara is being charged with assault and malicious damage to property worth more than $300. He also made death threats to his father inlaw Mudzurwa Matare after being allegedly incensed by his wife’s HIV status. Nzara appeared before Gutu Magistrate Edwin Marecha last week and pleaded guilty to the malicious damage charge but denied the assault charge.
He claimed his inlaws attacked him and he acted in selfdefence. Facts of the State Case are that on August 25, 2016, Nzara became furious after discovering ARV tablets in his rural house. The incident happened when Nzara who is based in Harare was offduty and had gone to see his wife in Gutu. He then went berserk and broke window panes and doors at Matare’s shop at Bhasera Business Centre.
He went on to destroy the goods in the shop. Nzara also chased his inlaws with a screw driver and threatened to kill them after brutally assaulting his pregnant wife. “I am the victim here and I don’t see the reason
why these people reported me for assault. They have destroyed my life and they should be ashamed of themselves. They accepted my lobola knowing very well that their daughter was HIV positive. She was secretly collecting her medication without saying anything to me. I am really hurt because I wasted my time. I threw stones because I was devastated. After all I did not assault them but we fought,” said Nzara. Magistrate Marecha granted him $ 100 bail. The matter will be heard in a defence trial on October 11, 2016. ZimEye will cover all the proceedings.