Lecturer bust for assault of his wife

Varsity hopes law takes its course

A senior lecturer at the University of Venda (Univen) has been arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife at the weekend.

The alleged incident happened at the couple’s home in Makumeke village in the Malamulele area of Limpopo.

The 32-year-old lecturer, who may not be named pending his court appearance, was arrested on Saturday following an alleged incident that happened a day before.

Police spokesman Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo yesterday confirmed the arrest and said the suspect would appear in the Malamulele Magistrate’s Court today.

He said the man was charged with common assault.

“Normally, when a person is charged with common assault we do not arrest but issue a warning for that person to appear in court. But, in this case we had to effect an arrest because it was a domesticrelated incident. This is to prevent further harm to the victim,” Mojapelo said.

He said there were no records of previous cases against the lecturer but he may have violated a protection order.

He said the victim was aged 33.

Head of the criminology department at Univen, Dr Kholofelo Mothibi, said they condemned domestic violence.

“We do not condone any form of violence, neither do we associate ourselves with incidents of domestic violence,” Mothibi said.

She added that the department had a syllabus on domestic violence.

“Our syllabus has also been reviewed to incorporate victims of crime, where we are also working hand in hand with the police to deal with any form of violence in our society,” Mothibi said.

The institution’s spokesman Takalani Dzaga said they were disappointed with the case involving their lecturer as a suspect.

“If indeed it’s true one of our officials has assaulted his wife, we are really disappointed with his conduct and hope the law takes its course,” Dzaga said.