Young man who snatched 61-year-old granny from 72-year-old husband gets 3 goats, 3 cows fine

A 61-year-old woman from Makoni, Zimbabwe, has shocked her rural community after she reportedly abandoned her 72-year-old husband in pursuit of love with a much younger man.

In Mukuwapasi Village, Caroline Chihwayi is accused of having divorced Lancelot Mutenda in favour of Justin Madziwa, a man who is thought t56o be young enough to be her son. After Mutenda brought the case to Chief Makoni’s community court, accusing Justin of ruining his marriage, the scandal gained widespread attention. Justin and Chihwayi, however, did not show up for the court.

Giving his testimony before the court, Mutenda described how he first caught the pair in an intimate encounter in 2020. He confiscated Justin’s clothes as evidence and brought the matter before Headman Mukuwapasi’s community court.

“Justin, accompanied by his relatives, approached me for an out-of-court settlement. He offered a cock as an apology, but my relatives deemed it a mockery, as a cock symbolises power and authority in our culture,” Mutenda said.

Though the headman’s court ruled that Justin had disrespected Mutenda and ordered him to pay two beasts in compensation, Justin reportedly fled the village without fulfilling the ruling.

Mutenda recounted that he returned from a funeral in Bulawayo to find his homestead ransacked and his wife missing. “Later, I was informed that my wife was with Justin at the shops. When I arrived, they had already left. I tracked them to Justin’s homestead around 1am, where I overheard them talking and then becoming intimate,” he said.

He admitted to throwing a brick onto the roof of the house to disrupt the couple. When he confronted Justin, the younger man attempted to raise an alarm, but no one responded. Mutenda later reported the incident to the police, who directed him to seek redress through community courts. However, he revealed that Justin and Chihwayi filed a counter-report, accusing him of assault.

The scandal has reportedly caused a rift within Mutenda’s family. “My three married daughters are siding with their mother, while my son supports me, though from a distance,” he said. He explained that despite the betrayal, he had forgiven his wife in the past, hoping they could continue raising their grandchildren together.

“I gave her a divorce token three times in the absence of her relatives because at that time I still loved her. I assumed she might change,” Mutenda told the court.

The community court ultimately found Justin guilty of adultery and fined him three beasts and three goats for failing to attend proceedings. The court also advised Mutenda to formally divorce Chihwayi to bring the long-running saga to a close.