By Own Correspondent| A Bulawayo woman has been keeping part of her severed middle finger for the past five months to use “as evidence” at the civil court following domestic violence.

Tendai Ncube (59) of Beuna Vista dried the tip of the left-hand finger after it was bitten off by a neighbour on 20 November last year while they fought over a bucket of maize.

Ncube said she went for treatment at United Bulawayo Hospitals (UHB) and was told to throw the finger away but she insisted that she will discard it once the matter is settled (by the civil court).

Meanwhile, a consultant pathologist, Dr Blessing Zambuko, said the normal procedure was to submit the severed part of the finger to hospital authorities.

He said:

The normal procedure is that one must submit the limb to a hospital who will then send it to the laboratory for examination or they hand it over to the police who will send it to forensic pathology for examination.

After all, is done, all specimen will not be returned to the patient but shall be properly disposed of by incineration. Under normal circumstances, the limb cannot, and must not be kept in the home.

Ncube suffered permanent disability following the biting incident as she cannot use the affected hand as two of the fingers can no longer bend.- Statemedia