A MANICALAND provincial magistrate has ordered the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to pay $151, 191 to a 15-year-old Mutare minor, Ernest Jamela, who was injured after a police officer unleashed dogs on him.
The police officer Jefinias Mazambani and the police commissioner general Godwin Matanga were dragged to court as first and second respondents respectively.
Judgment was based on that the plaintiff was a minor and could not be subjected to excruciating pain.
“The plaintiff is a minor child of a relatively tender age; he is thus more sensitive to pain than the ordinary person,” the magistrate ruled.
“While first defendant denied any wrong doing, the evidence on record and his criminal conviction and sentence conclusively led to the only reasonable conclusion that he indeed assaulted the plaintiff severely leading to serious injuries being inflicted.
“I have already alluded to the fact that the special damages have been proved. In line with the decided case the court feels that the general damages for pain and suffering should be $ 150 000, special damages $1 191.”
