NKOSENTSHA KHUMALO
In a bizarre incident that occurred in Emganwini Suburb of Bulawayo, a landlord is pursuing legal action against a tenant who allegedly assaulted her son who relies on a catheter due to his medical condition.
Apparently it is the landlord who instructed the tenant to instil coporal punishment to the ailing unruly son.
The son relies on a catheter to attend to his basic needs including the need to relieve himself, particularly to ‘pee’.
A reporter of this publication espoused first-hand information that at one point, the landlord endured an encounter with her son over an undisclosed matter where they locked horns in a heated argument.
During the argument, the son ended up uttering insultive, disrespectful words to his mother, which gravely offended her.
Feeling disrespected and shamed by her son as a mother, she instructed her tenant who was with his friend during the quarell to rough up the son so as to teach him a lesson.
The duo did as they were instructed.
However, the two friends later had to find out from the landlord that they had overdone the beating of the disrespectful son.
This was when their nightmares begun.
According to the landlord, the assault has caused her son, Mxolisi Dube’s health to deteriorate further, necessitating urgent medical care and catheter replacements.
The landlord claims that she reached an agreement with the tenant, Cedric Tshuma, and his friend Bhekumuzi Moyo, for them to contribute to her son’s medical expenses. However, the two have since failed to fulfill their end of the agreement, prompting her to seek justice.
“We had arranged that since they had beaten up ‘Mxo’, they would at least help him to buy his medication as his condition continues to worsen due to the assault but they are vehemently refusing to comply.”
“They assaulted my son, fully aware of his vulnerable state, and now his condition has worsened due to the resulting pus and urgent need for a new catheter,” she said.
“We had an agreement that they would help cover the costs, but they are refusing to do so.”
Tshuma, the tenant, expressed distress over the living situation, stating that the atmosphere has become hostile since the incident, with the landlord and her family treating him poorly and threatening to evict him.
“Mxolisi said some harsh words to his mother who felt offended and ordered us to descipline him and so we did, after sometime she then diverted from her own words saying we worsened her son’s condition and now she wants to kick me out of her house because we have refused pay for the catheter.”
“They told us to discipline him, and now they’re blaming us for making his condition worse,” Tshuma explained.
Moyo echoed Tshuma’s account, acknowledging that they were instructed to assault Mxolisi after he allegedly disrespected his mother.
“We only did as we were told, but now the mother is saying we went too far,” Moyo said.
In response to the situation, the landlord said she has sought legal counsel and plans to file an assault case against the two individuals.
Additionally, she has taken in a new tenant who is a police officer, hoping that their presence will help bring the case to a just resolution.
Meanwhile, the Landlord’s son who is said to be not well has been spotted around Emganwini’s liqour drinking spots having one or two beers with the very same tenant, who is alleged to have assaulted him.
After being scrutinised on whether his condition is deteriorating or not, it is at this point very difficult to speculate as the landlord’s son is usually drunk most of the times.
It has also been noted that the landlord keeps pressuring her tenant to pay for the catheter, but claims that she has no intention of taking the matter further to the authorities.
She believes that the matter can be resolved in a more civil manner that is convenient for her tenant.
Tshuma and Moyo on the other hand claim that they will not give any penny to the woman, whom they believe wants to take advantage and benefit from the whole situation.
Tshuma said the landlord sometimes joins them when they are drinking beer with Mxolisi.
Zim GBC News ©2024