A Bulawayo man was left shocked and upset after spotting “flirty” messages and indecent pictures in his wife’s phone that she was exchanging with another man while making an appointment supposedly for a date.
After stumbling on the lewd pictures and messages Thamsanqa Dale failed to control his temper when he allegedly pummelled his wife Grace Dale accusing her of being promiscuous.
So severe were Thamsanqa’s repeated acts of violence on his wife that subsequently she was prompted to approach the Bulawayo Civil Court to seek a protection order against him.
In her papers Grace told the court how her husband’s constant acts of violence and verbal abuse left her distressed and fearful.
“Thamsanqa Dale is my husband of seven years and we have three children together. I am making this application for a protection order because of the physical and emotional abuse I’m subjected to. The abuse has become so unbearable and untenable. I am living in constant fear for my life. He recently seriously assaulted me and I fled and sought refuge at one of our relatives’ house.
“His violent behaviour is spiralling out of control and he is also constantly falsely accusing me of infidelity and continues to insult me while calling me a prostitute in front of our minor children. He is also causing so much pain, discomfort and distress as he continues to threaten and harass me. I pray that this honourable court intervenes and grants me a protection order,” pleaded Grace.
She also begged the court to bar her husband from visiting her workplace.
In response Thamsanqa justified his violent actions saying when he assaulted his wife, he was angered by her alleged flirtatious behaviour.
“I assaulted her because I saw messages, in which she was making an appointment with someone else and she had sent him nude pictures,” protested Thamsanqa.
Bulawayo magistrate Nomasiko Ndlovu who presided over the case ordered Thamsanqa not to physically and verbally abuse his wife as well as not to send her threatening messages. The magistrate also ordered Thamsanqa not to visit her workplace without her permission.