By Mary Taruvinga

A WOMAN hacked her husband to death with an axe at the height of a domestic dispute at their home in Chivhu in full view of their minor daughter.

The woman, Chenai Togara, has since been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment by High Court judge, Justice Lucy Mungwari.

The court heard that Chenai had a heated dispute with husband Benjamin Sambara, who accused her of having an extramarital affair with one Nelson Geza.

The fateful incident occurred on September 12, 2020.

It was proved in court that Togara first struck Sambara with an axe on the back of his thigh and immobilised him before wielding the weapon on his head, splitting his skull open.

Sambara died a day later at Chivhu hospital where he was rushed after the attack.

Togara denied the allegations throughout the trial, stating that she only acted in self-defence, but the court proved that she attacked her husband while he was in a prone position.

She had argued that that Sambara was the one who went out of their kitchen hut to take an axe intending to attack her, but she overpowered him, grabbed it from him and attacked him in defence.

The court however ruled that there is no way she would have reached for the back of his thigh while he was facing her and the impact of the axe on her husband’s head shows that he was not in a position to defend himself.

Justice Mungwari ruled that if she didn’t want to kill Sambara, she would have dropped the axe when she immobilised him after hitting his thigh.

“What stood out from the accused’s testimony was that she was a dishonest witness. She wove a web in the form of a narrative which finally trapped her,” Justice Mungwari said.

“The only logical conclusion is that she failed to explain her version of events because she struck the deceased whilst he had his back to her. The court concluded that the injury noted on the back part of the deceased’s thigh could only have been inflicted because the deceased had relented  in attacking the accused and was either fleeing or walking away with his back to the accused,” ruled the judge.

Court also noted that Togara failed to explain why she chose to strike him again when he was on his knees and unable to chase her.

She also failed to explain why she did not run away when their daughter alerted her that her father was bringing an axe to their kitchen hut where she was sitting as she alleged.

Mungwari said Togara did not show any remorse and only focused on exonerating herself.

The court noted that she also volunteered information that there was now love to hate between the two as she was planning on divorcing Sambara.