A report by the Hmetro established that a local pastor recently approached the Harare Civil Court, praying to be granted a peace order against his wife whom he accused of violent behaviour.
Pastor Talent N’ono, whose parish has not been disclosed, claimed that his wife Chido insults him in front of the congregants.
“She is my wife, but she insults me in front of the congregants saying that I am not taking good care of her and the children,” the Court heard.
“She came to church during testimony time and took the microphone by force from the MC as if she wanted to testify but to insults me.
I am the one opted out from our matrimonial home to stay with my younger brother to avoid her insults but she attend all church services to harass and humiliate me in front of the congregants.
“I have some audios that she has insulted me for nearly 48 minutes on the phone,” he said.
The cleric added;
“I do not want her to insult me in front of the congregants as I want to do the work of God in peace. I am no longer in a position to solve other couples issues because of my wife’s behaviour.”
The accused Chido, however, denied the allegations, saying Talent was the one who bailed out on them owing to her sickness.
“I never insulted him, he is the one who opted out because of my illness and he is not taking good care of us. I didn’t harass him at his church; I was just asking money for the food and school fees.
I neither travel nor carry 20 litres of water because of my illness so how can I go to his church every Sunday to insult him,” she told the court.
Pastor Talent, on the other hand, submitted that contrary to her claims of him being a deadbeat husband, he still looks out for his family.
“I am taking good care of them, every Sunday I bought grocery for them.”
The presiding Magistrate Noah Gwatidzo granted the peace order in Talent’s favour and he ordered Chido not to verbally abuse the man of the cloth.
Well, a take-home tip on this one could be that until churches choose to believe that the suffering of victims of abuse in their communities is more important than their theology, they will continue to preach a void gospel that claims to offer support and love and instead reinforces power differentials that privilege abusers over their victims.
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