Her 40-year-old husband, Gift Chemhuru of Motsi Village
under Chief Chirau of Zvimba, has been arrested and remanded in custody to
tomorrow, after the State applied for further detention to allow the
investigating officer to go to Mutoko where the two children are hidden.
Chemhuru appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs Judith
Taruvinga facing kidnapping charges.The kidnapped baby was found in Murombedzi,
Zvimba, on Monday and police arrested Chemhuru, who was also wanted in
connection with theft and motor vehicle offences.
His wife, Miriam Bwanali, escaped when the police arrived
and detectives are still looking for her since she is the key suspect.
Sources close to the investigations yesterday said the two
children, a boy and a girl, were located in Mutoko where Bwanali is alleged to
have taken them for safekeeping at a relative’s homestead.
It is believed that the children were kidnapped while they
were aged between three weeks and one-month-old.
Investigations are in full swing and a team of detectives
from Harare was expected to leave the capital yesterday for Mutoko to locate
the children.
Once located, the children are expected to be taken to the
Department of Social Welfare while further investigations take place.
Police will then appeal to anyone missing their children to
contact them. DNA testing will be done to verify who are the biological
parents.
It is the State case that on September 24, the mother,
Shani Charamanda (30), gave birth to a baby boy at Mbuya Nehanda Maternity
Hospital, Harare and she was discharged.
Four weeks later on October 22 Charamanda went to
Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals where she wanted to see a doctor and have her
blood pressure checked, but she failed to see him as he was not on duty.
It is alleged that on her way home, she met Bwanali inside
the hospital yard and they started walking to Montagu Spar a few blocks away
and while there, Bwanali offered to help carry the baby.
The court heard that Charamanda initially refused, but
Bwanali insisted, resulting in the complainant giving in.
While in the shop, Bwanali allegedly gave the mother US$42
and a pack of pampers before telling her to join the queue and pay for them,
and she complied.
The court heard that as the complainant approached the
till, Bwanali slowly walked towards the door and fled with the child.
When Charamanda finished the transaction, she went outside to meet Bwanali, but could not locate Bwanali. She asked if anyone else had seen the woman, but no one could remember and then she found her bag was also missing with her wallet which had a Nokia mobile phone, US$2 and $45.
Charamanda then started crying, and was taken to Milton
Park Police Station to report the matter.
On October 28, detectives interviewed the mother and
revisited the scene and viewed CCTV footage showing Chemhuru committing the
offence.
On November 2, police officers from Zvimba received
information to the effect that members of the community in Motsi Village, Chief
Chirau had apprehended Chemhuru for kidnapping a child.
Police went to the scene and arrested Chemhuru and later
found the one-month old baby sleeping on the bed and discovered that Bwanali
had escaped. Herald
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