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Mejury Magaya, Midlands Reporter

A 26-year-old man from Mkoba 14 suburb in Gweru has been sentenced to four months in prison for severely assaulting his two-year old daughter for failing to count from one to 10.

The man, whose name has been withheld to protect the identity of the toddler, was convicted on his own plea by Gweru provincial magistrate, Ms Mildred Matuvi.

In mitigation, the father told the court that he wanted his daughter to be literate from a tender age so that she could do better than him in terms of education. 

“I went overboard when I assaulted her with an electric cable but all I want was for her to do well at school hence I wanted to teach her from a tender age. I dropped out of school while doing Grade Three and I want my daughter to do better than me,” said the father. 

Prosecuting, Ms Constance Madzudzu said on October 14 this year at around 6PM the complainant’s mother finished bathing the girl and left her in the company of her father in the bedroom.

On her return, the mother found the accused assaulting the child with an electric cable on the back and right side of the face.

Ms Madzudzu told the court that the complainant’s mother pleaded with the accused to stop assaulting the child. 

“The accused person then told the complainant`s mother that the complainant had failed to count from one to 10 and wanted to discipline her so that she will be able to learn fast what he was teaching her,” said Ms Madzudzu.

The mother then reported the assault to the police leading to the accused’s arrest.