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Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
A GRADE 6 pupil at Makuzeze Primary School in Mangwe District stabbed his school mate with an  Okapi knife on the arm following a dispute over a 12-year-old girl.Mbongiseni Tshuma, 13, intervened when he found Alfred Nkomo, 14, fighting his cousin, Thabani Ncube, over a Grade 5 girl.

Mbongiseni ended up on the receiving end and in defence, drew an Okapi knife and stabbed Alfred on the right arm. The incident occurred last Friday.

Mbongiseni, who is expected to appear in court soon, later told his grandmother that he owned the knife and carried it everywhere, including when going to school, for safety reasons. Mbongiseni’s grandmother, Sanali Makombe, told Chronicle that she started looking after the boy when his father passed away some years ago and his mother deserted him while he was eight years old.

She added that she settled Alfred’s medical bill after he was treated at a local clinic.

Makombe said she was shocked to learn that Mbongiseni owned an Okapi knife.

She alleged that bad blood between the boys developed last term over a Grade 5 pupil at the same school who is alleged to be Thabani’s girlfriend.

“Alfred who is my neighbour’s son and Thabani, who is my other grandson, had a misunderstanding last term after Thabani received information that Alfred was going after his girl who also learns at the school. They did not fight on that day but I received a report that they were  seen quarrelling and they made promises to deal with  each other.

“Following the incident I talked to my grandson and warned him against being involved with girls at his age. I also made it clear that I did not want to receive any report of him fighting with Alfred over that issue,” she said.

Makombe said she later received a report last week on Friday informing her that Mbongiseni had stabbed Alfred while trying to defend his cousin.

She said she was worried that her grandson was turning into a criminal at a tender age and added that she was devastated by the incident as she struggles to put food on the table or pay her grandsons’ school fees.

“I sent Thabani and Mbongiseni to Ngwanyana Business Centre and the next thing I heard was that they had been taken to the police station after stabbing Alfred. When I asked the two boys what had happened they told me that they met Alfred on their way and he started quarrelling with them.

“This time around their quarrel led to a fight. Mbongiseni said he tried to stop Alfred from beating up his cousin but instead he got a beating himself. That  was when he pulled out an Okapi knife and stabbed his school mate on the arm,” said Makombe