A SAKUBVA woman sustained serious facial and chest burns last Thursday after a vicious hot cooking oil attack by her husband she claimed she was deserting after he had been ‘locked’ by his girlfriend.

While in most cases women scald their male partners with cooking oil or water, Michelle Masango’s case was a rare case of domestic violence where the husband, Moses Marote is the perpetrator.

The couple resides at Number 77B, Chisamba Singles, Sakubva. Marote, who fled soon after committing the crime and is still at large, is still sending text messages to Masango blaming her for his callous act.
In an interview at Mutare Provincial Hospital where she is recovering after being initially admitted in the hospital’s intensive care unit, Masango narrated her ordeal at the hands of her husband.

“The whole thing started when my husband had an affair with his girlfriend. When I discovered it, we argued about it. Things worsened when he could no longer do anything in bed. He left me and moved out. That was in November last year.

“He only came back in March this year. I refused to accept him back, but he came with his relatives including his mother who cried as she begged me to change my decision. “I then asked whether the problem that led to our separation had been solved. He lied to me that it had been solved.

“I accepted him back. However, from March to April he could not do anything in bed. I complained to my sisters that nothing had changed. He still has the problem that led to our separation.

“Things got so confusing when he said he had sought help from spiritualists and he was told that my aunt had caused that problem.

“I asked for some time to be alone. I told him I wanted to be away from him for while. He refused. He said he could not bear the thought of seeing me with another man, let alone seeing her married to another man,” she said.

Masango said her husband suggested giving her his young brother as husband as a way of keeping her in their family.

“He told me that I could have his young brother in bed and remain as part of their family. I refused to be part of that arrangement. Apart from the fact that I did not love his young brother, I also did not know how his young brother separated with his wife.

“Last Wednesday my mother visited us and attempted to counsel us. We agreed that we would wait for his mother the next day. I watched TV until around 10pm when I retired to bed. I woke up the next morning at around 5am. I sent a text message to his mother informing her that we are waiting for her.

“Just when I finished sending that message, he hurled a pot full of hot cooking oil at my face and chest.

“I was in pain and cried out for help. I could not see. That is how I came here (Mutare Provincial Hospital). I am happy with the help that I am getting here. The nurses have been so awesome and this is why I am no longer in the intensive care unit,” she said.

Marote is, however, is still sending text messages to Masango blaming her for his callous act. He alleges that he was told it was Masango who ‘locked’ him, but somehow could not tell her.

“Handizvo zvandaida Mimmiie (Michelle Masango). Asi pandaifamba pose ndaingonzwa nezvako ndaikuti ngatifambe asi wairamba . . . ndaisakuudza ndoo zvandiri kunzwa nekuti ndaikuda. . . .ndaidawo kuti umba yedu imire. . . .kuramba kwawaiita ndakasvika pakugumirwa (This is not what I wanted Michelle. I was told you are the one who caused this problem affecting wherever I consulted. I could not tell you because I loved you. I wanted our marriage to work. Each time you refused to accompany me to seek help I was left in pain and eventually became clueless),” reads one of the text messages that Marote sent to Masango after the horrific incident.

Apparently, this is not the first time that residents in the Chisamba Singles section of Sakubva have witnessed such an awful act of domestic violence after a similar hot cooking oil attack occurred in 2015. It was certainly not a merry Christmas for Paidamoyo Muradzikwa, 30 years of age then, after he sustained serious facial burns following a vicious hot cooking oil attack by his jealous wife of five years — Tatenda Manziyo — on December 21, 2015.

The callous attack occurred after a serious altercation at their Chisamba Singles home in Sakubva as the wife suspected that the man was still seeing his former wife behind her back.