A choir conductor from the Seventh-day Adventist Church is accused of assaulting his brother’s wife and mother-in-law in a dispute over sending his sister to the rural areas.
Sharon Mutambirwa, 34, said Trust Mudhombo, 38, stripped her naked and head-butted her in front of her mother and neighbors on Sept. 23. She said he also punched her mother, who tried to intervene, and blamed her for influencing her daughter.
Mutambirwa said she suffered a swollen face and a bloody nose from the attack, which happened at her home in St Mary’s, a suburb of Harare. She said she filed a police report at St Mary’s Police Station, but the authorities and the church elders were reluctant to pursue the case.
“He beat me up for sending my child to the rural areas while my husband was away, without understanding the circumstances,” Mutambirwa told H-Metro, a local tabloid. “He left me naked in front of our neighbours, and church elders are refusing to entertain the matter. At the same time, the police are saying that we fought and referred me to church elders to solve the matter. I was warned about following up the case at St Mary’s Police Station and the investigating officer is reluctant to pursue the matter.”
Mudhombo, who is the choir conductor at St Mary’s Seventh-day Adventist Church, declined to comment on the allegations. “I am not comfortable talking about the matter, sorry,” he said.
