Siblings fight over tenants

FRUSTRATED by her brother’s meddling with her tenants saw a Mutare woman approaching Mutare Civil Court, praying for a protection order.

Grace Guti applied for a protection order against her brother, Justine Guti, accusing him of interfering with her tenants’ stay at their family house.

The two appeared before Mutare magistrate, Mr Xavier Chipato who granted the protection order to Grace.

“Your worship, we inherited the property in Greenside and decided to lease it out. We divided the rooms and we have separate tenants. Each one of us collect rentals from our respective tenants.

“We agreed that neither of us should interfere with the other’s tenants, and that we would handle our respective responsibilities independently. However, my brother has been meddling with my tenants, causing a great deal of confusion and frustration. As a result, I have decided to take this matter to court so that he stops what he is doing,” said Grace.

Adding on to the allegations, Grace said her brother assaults and insults her.

“At one point, we had a fight following a misunderstanding over the tenants. He came home drunk and shouted at me. I confronted him and we ended up fighting. I was injured on the forehead and the scar is still there. I am fed up with his wayward behaviour,” stated Grace.

Responding to the allegations, Justine defended himself, arguing that Grace was the aggressor and does not respect him. “I moved out of the house, leaving her with the tenants, hers and mine. We could not stay under the same roof because she disrespects me. She calls me names. We fought after her daughter called me by my first name. When I tried to counsel her daughter against calling me by my first name, she verbally attacked me. We fought and she also inflicted a scar on me.

“Your worship, we are just two siblings, but she does not respect me as her elder brother. She harasses my tenants and I end up retaliating on her own tenants. Many of my tenants have left because of her behaviour and what she says to them,” said Justine.

Mr Chipato advised the siblings to stay in union as a family.

“You are siblings, and the only close family members. I urge you to maintain peace and develop agape love towards one another,” said Mr Chipato.