BULAWAYO – A 65-year-old woman from Filabusi has filed a complaint with the Judicial Service Commission accusing two district courts of mishandling a string of domestic violence and child support cases involving her estranged husband, a local businessman.

Peggy Mangena alleged that despite multiple court appearances and police involvement, her husband Lewis Mangena has faced minimal consequences and allegedly continues to flout court orders while collecting rental income from their shared properties without her benefit.

“I was left bleeding after he attacked me with an axe on the head, locked me inside the house, and took my phone,” Mangena wrote in her complaint. “Neighbours rescued me, and the matter was reported, but the courts have failed me.”

According to Mangena, her husband was sentenced to perform community service at Knocknara Primary School but allegedly dodged the punishment by hiring a proxy.

Despite repeated reports of violations and harassment, she says the matter was mishandled by the courts, with magistrates recusing themselves or acquitting her husband on technical grounds.

The case was transferred from Filabusi to Esigodini Magistrates Court, where the presiding magistrate, only identified as JB, acquitted both Lewis Mangena and a school official who was supposed to be supervising the businessman during the community service. The same magistrate later dismissed an adultery case Peggy brought against another woman who was allegedly staying with her husband, citing procedural errors.

Mangena also accuses the Filabusi courts of turning a blind eye to her husband’s failure to pay maintenance, despite a High Court order compelling him to remit US$870 monthly. She says magistrate Makhelo Ncube allowed Mangena to pay a reduced amount of ZiG 7,000, even as he allegedly collects over US$2,500 in rentals monthly and operates a new business.

“I am pained… I survive on handouts and live in depression. The law has always been on his side,” she said as she appealed to the JSC to review three specific cases: CRB FIL505/23, CRB FIL56/24, and HCBC199/24.

Mangena now fears she could lose everything, including the couple’s most valuable assets, as divorce proceedings unfold.

The JSC has not yet responded to the complaint.