A 48-year-old abusive man escaped effective imprisonment and walked out of court a free man after being convicted of physically abusing his wife and parading his manhood in front of his two daughters.

Ishmael Musonza of Queensdale in Harare last week pleaded guilty to domestic violence and public indecency when he appeared before Harare magistrate Gamuchirai Siwardi.

Musonza was slapped with a 10-month jail term for violence, but was spared from doing time in jail after four months were suspended on condition of good behaviour. For the remaining six months, he was ordered to perform 210 hours of community service at Hatfield Police Station.

Musonza was further slapped with a $50 fine for exposing his manhood in front of his two daughters aged 10 and 15 years respectively.

According to prosecutor Mwanza Safuri, Musonza’s abusive behaviour against his family started a long time ago, but reached a peak sometime in May last year. The court heard that during the month in question, Musonza forced his wife( name withheld) to soak herself while dressed in the bath tub. After that, he ordered her to keep standing throughout the night to dry up.

In May this year, the court heard, Musonza urinated on his wife and forced her to crawl to mop and dry up the flowing urine in the passage while his children watched. As if that was not enough, the court heard, between the period extending from May to July this year and on different occasions, Musonza entered his daughters’ bedroom dressed only in a T-shirt and at some point walked in the house naked, exposing his manhood to his daughters. The court also heard that on July 1 this year, Musonza forced his wife and children to spend the night outside the house after being angered by his wife’s refusal to buy him beer at the shops.

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