BULAWAYO
–
A
Bulawayo
woman
has
been
jailed
for
two
years
for
hitting
a
neighbour’s
child
after
she
found
her
and
three
others
bunking
school.
Her
family
has
engaged
a
Bulawayo
lawyer
to
launch
an
urgent
appeal
against
the
sentence.
Panashe
Mpofu,
33,
flew
into
a
rage
after
being
informed
by
members
of
the
neighbourhood
watch
in
Old
Luveve
that
her
son,
two
girls
and
another
boy
were
bunking
school
and
spending
daytime
at
a
house
whose
owners
are
said
to
be
living
in
the
United
Kingdom.
The
second
boy
stays
at
the
house.
The
West
Commonage
Magistrates
Court
heard
that
Mpofu
confronted
the
quartet
on
November
8
and
used
a
switch
to
beat
up
her
son
and
the
two
girls
after
the
other
boy
fled.
The
family
of
one
of
the
girls
filed
a
police
report
leading
to
Mpofu’s
arrest.
Mpofu,
who
had
no
lawyer,
pleaded
guilty
to
assault
when
she
appeared
before
Western
Commonage
magistrate
Vakayi
Douglas
Chikwekwe.
The
magistrate
sentenced
Mpofu
to
a
two-year
jail
sentence
but
conditionally
suspended
six
months,
leaving
her
to
serve
an
effective
18
months
in
prison.
“Cases
of
assault
are
rampant
in
Bulawayo,
not
a
day
goes
by
without
at
least
five
cases
being
reported
and
some
of
these
victims
end
up
suffering
from
disability,”
Chikwekwe
said
before
sentencing.
He
said
in
arriving
at
the
sentence
he
took
into
account
that
the
victim
was
a
child
and
she
had
suffered
injuries
which
were
preventing
her
from
attending
school.
She
had
also
suffered
financial
prejudice
from
paying
medical
bills,
the
magistrate
said.
The
victim
is
a
niece
of
prominent
Matopo
gold
miner
Mkhululi
Ncube
and
controversial
lawyer
Mlweliwenkululeko
Ncube.
Mpofu’s
family
said
they
planned
to
appeal
the
“harsh
sentence.”
“This
is
a
parent
who
was
disciplining
children
who
were
engaging
in
wayward
behaviour.
The
parents
of
this
girl
should
actually
be
thanking
her,
not
persecuting
her,”
a
family
spokesman
told
ZimLive.
Milton
Moyo
prosecuted.