The former officer-in-charge of Borrowdale Police Station, Simbarashe Sibanda has been sentenced to 4-years in prison after he was convicted of scalding his lover in an extramarital affair with boiling water. However, Harare Regional Magistrate Jessy Kufa who presided over the trial suspended one year from the sentence and Sibanda will serve an effective three years in jail. In passing sentence, Magistrate Kufa said,
The accused committed attempted murder using a lethal weapon which was boiling water which resulted in the lady sustaining permanent injuries on her neck and buttocks in form of keloids.
He assaulted and injured his girlfriend in what was an adulterous affair despite the fact that he was a top police officer and was supposed to abide by the law at all times.
The Government of Zimbabwe is on record fighting against gender-based violence and all forms of abuse, accused should have exercised extreme self-control as on the day in question, the issue that resulted in the confrontation was about why he hadn’t bought relish for supper.
Sibanda scalded his unofficial second wife Stella Ruswa, a fellow police officer with boiling water after a misunderstanding over supper. Ruswa is reported to have failed to prepare supper because there was no relish. She suffered severe burns and was admitted at West End Hospital for 11 days.
