Returning home, he found that Mase had left him and taken their children with her. At this point, Mandela stated, Mase temporarily moved in with her brother. Scrutinising this account of events, Smith noted that this chronology did not match that from other sources, and that, as far as he could tell, "that scene [of Mandela coming out of prison to find his wife had left him] never happened". Records indicate that it was Mase who first initiated divorce proceedings. She lodged a particular of claims report at the Native District Court in May 1956, in which she stated that she was seeking a divorce because Mandela had repeatedly physically assaulted her. In her report, Mase made no allegation of adultery against her husband. Instead, she claimed that Mandela had deserted her in February 1955 and then physically assaulted her in July, August, and October of that year, and again in February 1956 after she refused to leave their house. She added that in March 1956 he had threatened to kill her with an axe unless she left his house. She stated that she then took refuge with a neighbour before moving in with her brother. Mase's claims of assault were never subjected to scrutiny in court; Smith later noted that it is "entirely possible that Evelyn imagined all those stories of assault, out of malice or revenge, but the fact she alluded to them outside the divorce papers and that the neighbours were involved, lends at least some credence to her account." As part of her claim, Mase sought custody of her children, formal separation from Mandela, and a £50 monthly maintenance payment from him. Mandela responded to Mase's report with his own petition, filed in August 1956. There, he denied her claims of assault. He also informed his friend, the ANC activist Ahmed Kathrada, that the only time he had used physical force against his wife was when she was threatening him with a red hot poker and he had had to disarm her. In his 1956 petition, Mandela did not seek custody of his daughter but did so for his two sons, arguing that they would be better off living with him as their school was only 150 yards from his home, as opposed to two miles from Sam Mase's house. He also argued that, with his mother living with him, he was in a better position to care for his sons than Mase, who was working full-time. In addition, he claimed that his children were presently looking dirty and neglected at Sam Mase's overcrowded home, where Evelyn and her children were cohabiting with Sam, his wife, and their four children.