A 19-YEAR-OLD man battered a prostitute after she refused to offer her services to him. Tafadzwa Sibanda of Plumtree met Sakhile Phiri (33) at a local nightclub and offered her money. Phiri accepted the money and demanded more in order to entertain Sibanda. This did not go down well with Sibanda who armed himself with an empty beer bottle and struck the complainant on the head.
She was injured and was rushed to hospital.
Plumtree magistrate, Mr Gideon Ruvetsa, told Sibanda that men did not have to resort to violence whenever they were denied sex. “Violence is never the answer when denied sex. To make matters worse the woman that you assaulted was not even your wife but you have a wife at home.
“If you felt you needed to quench your sexual desires, then you had to do so with your wife and not a hooker,” he said. Mr Ruvetsa sentenced Sibanda to 18 months imprisonment of which six months were suspended for five years on condition that he does not commit an offence of the same nature.
The complainant told the court that Sibanda had offered her peanuts in exchange for her services.
“Your Worship this desperate man offered me $4 in return for my services and I made it clear that the money was not enough as I could not entertain him at such a low fee.
“He was desperate to get my services and my response pissed him off that is why he assaulted me with an empty beer bottle. I tried to give him back his money but he refused to take it back and insisted that I give in to his demands,” said the complainant.
“I tried explaining that I could not give him any favours as I was also trying to earn a living but he did not understand.” Sibanda, who admitted to have assaulted the complainant, said he was trying to get his money back.
“She did not want to give me back my money Your Worship and in addition she tried to take some more money out of my pockets without my knowledge which explains why I hit her with a bottle,” he said.
Prosecuting, Mr Medica Tshuma said Sibanda assaulted the complainant on 5 February.
“Sibanda met the complainant at Dumms Palace Night Club at about 12 midnight. The two had a misunderstanding and Sibanda hit the complainant on the head with an empty beer bottle causing her to bleed.
“The complainant reported the matter to the police resulting in Sibanda’s arrest,” he said.
