E10 000 fine for strangling, assaulting wife
MANZINI – A man was sentenced to five years in prison, with an option to pay a fine of E10 000, for strangling and assaulting his wife with a knife.
*Nkosikhona (40) of Nhlambeni appeared before Manzini Principal Magistrate Florence Msibi for contravening Section 77 (1) (a) of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act 15 of 2018. He is said to have physically abused his wife *Faith by assaulting her with a knife in the back of her body and further strangling her. This happened at Nhlambeni on January 26. He pleaded guilty to the charge. When mitigating on the sentence, the accused person’s lawyer appealed to the court to consider that he (accused) did not waste the court’s time. He added that the accused had never been convicted of a similar offence.
The lawyer stated that both the accused and his wife had reconciled and stayed together at their matrimonial home. He further highlighted that the accused was the sole breadwinner and had two children with his wife. The lawyer also appealed to the court to consider that the two parties still wished to live together. In another matter before Principal Magistrate Msibi, Colile Ntombikayise Simelane was charged for contravening Section 77 (1) of the SODV Act, in that she unlawfully burnt her brother Sibusiso’s double bed valued at E2 800 at Zandondo on January 3. In mitigation, the accused mentioned that the items did not belong to her brother, but to their late parents.
She admitted to having burnt the bed and explained that this was because it was worn out and old.
She said she was unemployed with two school-going children. She pleaded for the court to be lenient. The accused was sentenced to three years imprisonment or a fine of E6 000.