A JILTED Mutare man is demanding back the bales of secondhand clothing he had given to his lover during the course of their relationship.
So bitter is Wonder Tagarira over being spurned by Melody Sunze whom he wanted to marry that he dragged her to Mutare Civil Court, demanding that she returns the bales of secondhand clothing he gave her or pay him back an equivalent of US$2140.
The couple appeared before Mutare magistrate, Mr Xavier Chipato recently who ruled in favour of Tagarira.
Mr Chipato ordered to pay back Tagarira’s US$240 in three installments.
Tagarira said Sunze ditched him, saying she was not ready for marriage considering the period they had dated, which she viewed was short.
Tagarira said he fell in love with Sunze in September and they agreed to marry in the shortest possible time.
Tagarira said when he met Sunze she had nothing, hence he decided to help her out with starting a business of selling bales of secondhand clothing.
“I gave her a bale of secondhand dresses to sell on the understanding that we would share the profit afterwards. Sunze sold the dresses, but failed to raise much,” he said.
Tagarira later gave Sunze a bale of bed sheets which he gave to Sunze and asked her to return the dresses in her possession so that he could sell them to his customers.
However, Sunze told him that she had taken the bale to Rusape and gave it to a relative who had volunteered to sell it on her behalf.
“I only gave Sunze the bale of bed sheets after she had visited my place of residence and saw it. She asked for it. She also took two bed sheets and told me that she would keep them until we were married so that we would use them on our bed.
“When I later asked her to give me money for the sold dresses, she told me that she had no money. She started ignoring my phone calls and text messages when I tried to communicate with her,” said Tagarira.
He said he wanted to use the profit from the sale of the bales to pay for Sunze’s lobola.
“She is now telling me that she is not yet ready for marriage. Since it is over between the two of us, I am asking this honourable court to assist me to get my money and bale back from Sunze,” said Tagarira.
Sunze admitted that she was once in a relationship with Tagarira.
She said she started knowing Tagarira as a neighbour as they stayed together in the same location.
“I started knowing him as a neighbour and was still staying with his ex-wife. Tagarira’s ex-wife was my best friend and I would visit them at their place of residence in Gimboki on several occasions.
“When we started dating after he separated with his wife, Tagarira stopped me from going to work after I told him that I was getting a poor salary. He asked me to choose on what business to venture into, either selling secondhand clothing or a poultry project. I opted to trade in secondhand clothing. He never told me that he wanted part of the money from the sale of the dresses.
“Two days after he gave me the bale of secondhand clothing, Tagarira asked for my hand in marriage, saying he desperately wanted a woman to settle down with. When I told him that it was too early for us to settle together, we had a misunderstanding leading to the straining of our relationship. He started claiming his money back, saying he wanted to use it to pay for my lobola,” said Sunze.
She said she refused to rush into marrying him to ascertain first if he had actually divorced his first wife.
Tagarira said he never stopped Sunze from working, but had only tried to assist her to supplement her income. – Manica Post
