A video recording of a young man getting a right old fashioned clobbering from a woman did the rounds recently. The woman was identified as a dancehall artiste, Lady Squanda and her defenceless victim was a comedian known as Skimbo.
YOUR RIGHTS,MIRIAM TOSE MAJOME
He is reportedly very popular for comedy skits where he pokes fun at local artistes and celebrities. The story goes that he had featured Squanda in one of his skits, but she obviously did not share his sense of humour.
She did not like what he said about her and was so incensed that she set out to revenge and make an example out of him. With a group of vigilantes, she bundled him into a car and beat him to pulp, while one of the gang members filmed the assault.
In the video, she was seen rebuking him like a bad child and slapping him mercilessly on his face and head. The coup de grace was when she shoved her barefoot into his face and made him lick it. The impunity with which the whole assault was carried out is quite disturbing.
She appeared completely oblivious to the fact that she was committing a crime or perhaps believed she was above the law. She possibly believed that she had a right to revenge and right the wrong she perceived had been done to her by resorting to self-help and meting out her own brand of instant justice. The fact though is that assault is a serious criminal offence for which a conviction can lead to imprisonment for up to 10 years.
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Assault is defined under Section 89 of the Criminal Codification Reform Act Chapter 9:23 as when a person physically attacks another person intending to cause that person bodily harm or does so even after realising that there is a real risk or possibility of bodily harm. The assault on the young man’s face and head was so severe that there was a real possibility of bodily harm, yet she carried on despite. There are also psychological scars of assault such as injured feelings and humiliation including loss of reputation that he most possibly suffered.
Threats to assault someone using words and gestures that are intended to inspire fear in the mind of the threatened person so that they believe physical force will be used against them are illegal. Threats on their own are serious enough to result in a conviction and can carry similar penalties to actual assaults. It is not an acceptable defence to plead that the threat was empty because it was impossible to carry out or that the accused lacked the ability to carry out the assault. A mere threat to assault someone is a punishable crime. Torture and degrading punishment
Section 53 of the Constitution outlaws torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. When a court is determining an appropriate sentence for an assault conviction, it will consider the age and physical condition of the assaulted person. The degree of force or violence used and if a weapon was used and if the person intended to cause the victim bodily harm. Of importance is whether the person carrying out the assault was in a position of authority over the assaulted person.
Therefore, is there any difference between assault and corporal punishment? Is corporal punishment not mere assault that has been disguised in socially acceptable robes? Assault and corporal punishment
Corporal punishment was outlawed in a 2015 High Court judgment by Justice Esther Muremba in the State vs Willard Chokuramba HH718-14. The honourable judge described it as unconstitutional in terms of Sections 53 and 86(3) of the Constitution holding that it amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
Parents, guardians and teachers are permitted to administer moderate corporal punishment in terms of Section 241 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act. The Children’s Act also allows parents and guardians to administer reasonable punishment. The judgment had far reaching implications on youth discipline in schools and private homes.
One interpretation was that the ban on corporal punishment only applied to courts and its capacity to order corporal punishment as a sentence and not as a discipline measure in homes and schools.
Another interpretation argued that, indeed, it was a blanket ban, which extended to schools and homes. A big furore predictably ensued, as school authorities, parents and guardians opposed it fearing an increase in youth indiscipline and delinquency.
The Constitutional Court provisionally set aside the judgment in June 2015, pending its final determination after hearing competing arguments. This means the position prevailing before the High Court judgment was restored. For now courts are still able to sentence juveniles to corporal punishment.. Eradication of corporal punishment
Interest pressure groups such as the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment campaign actively for the eradication of all forms of corporal punishment. Their concerns are not unfounded because children are subjected to a lot of physical violence and assault in their spaces.
Such pressure groups regard all corporal punishment as degrading punishment and it is not hard to understand why based on the available statistics. A 2014 survey by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstats) revealed that 63% of children aged up to 14 experienced some form of violent punishment.
Many children reported having experienced psychological aggression and physical punishment at home and school. They reported being assaulted by being hit or slapped in the face, head or ears or very hard with a weapon or hands all over their bodies.
Children between the ages three to nine are the most prone to physical assaults and violent disciplinary measures than any other age group. Children routinely incur serious life threatening injuries under the guise of disciplinary measures.
Many children die as a result of violent attacks imposed in the name of discipline. There is need to differentiate between assault and discipline if there is a difference. There is no specific guide to measure severity in order to keep within the confines of moderate discipline as allowed by the law. Someone’s moderate punishment may very well be someone else’s definition of severe punishment.
However, assault as defined in the statutes needs to be identified and isolated for purposes of prosecuting it as a punishable crime.
Miriam Tose Majome is a lawyer and a teacher. She can be contacted on [email protected]
