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Codelia Mondela, Court Reporter
A BULAWAYO motorist lost a front tooth in a road-rage punch-up at the vegetable market along Jason Moyo Street.

The windscreen of Mr Obey Ngwenya’s car also got damaged in the process.

The brawl is said to have erupted after Mr Ngwenya of Queens Park, asked John Marufu to remove his car from the middle of the road where he had parked it.

Marufu is alleged to have turned violent and punched Mr Ngwenya, sending a tooth flying out of his mouth.

Mr Ngwenya was left nursing a couple of loose teeth.

Marufu appeared yesterday before magistrate Ms Gladmore Mushove facing a charge of assault.

He pleaded not guilty.

Ms Mushove remanded him out of custody to September 5 for continuation of trial.

Mr Ngwenya said Marufu assaulted him after he asked him to move his car from the middle of the road.

“Since the assault, I have to take painkillers every morning as my teeth ache. I am still looking for money to get my loose teeth fixed. I was not ready for war and I am not a war person,” he said.

However, Marufu told a different story and said Ngwenya grabbed him by the throat until people at the market place intervened and reminded him that a person had died recently at the same place.

He said Mr Ngwenya smashed his own windscreen worth $80 and knocked out his own tooth.

“Ngwenya came onto me saying I should remove my skorokoro (scrap car). He picked two big stones, threw them at me and he missed his target,” he said.

“The stones hit his windscreen and I fled. As he was chasing after me he slipped and fell and hit against a gate. He wants to fix me by saying I damaged his wind screen when he did it,” he said.

Prosecuting, Ms Petronila Ngwenya said the scuffle occurred on August 5, at around 3PM.

“Mr Ngwenya was driving his car when he saw Marufu parking his vehicle at the centre of the road blocking his way,” she said.

“He disembarked and approached Marufu asking him to move his car. Marufu became violent and assaulted Ngwenya several times on his face,” she said.

The court heard that he also hit the windscreen of Ngwenya’s car with his fists. A report was made at Bulawayo Central Police Station leading to his arrest.

@MondelaC