Sitting at the
High Court in Masvingo, Justice Helena Charewa however, found serious
extenuating circumstances and freed the suspect at the end of the sentencing.
The girl who
cannot be named was represented by Pauline Chimwanda of Saratoga Makausi Law
Chambers and Mukai Mutume prosecuted.
It is the State
case that the accused pummeled her baby before throwing it in a well where it
died. The girl who had a baby when she was 15 years old found a new boyfriend
who could only marry her if she left her baby behind hence her decision to kill
the baby.
Justice Charewa
agreed with the defense lawyer that the accused had a traumatic past. She lost
her mother and was raised by her paternal grandmother after her father
neglected her. As a young girl she survived on piece jobs including herding
villagers’ cattle. She became sexually susceptible because of her
circumstances.
She went on to
struggle with the responsibility of looking after the child with the attendant
emotional and psychological stress.
This is when
she met the man who could take her out of her troubles, minus the child.
The defense
argued that accused had no intention to kill the child but poverty led her into
a cycle of hardships and tragedies affecting her mental health.
Justice Charewa
said she could only keep her in custody until the end of sentencing and freed
her. Masvingo Mirror
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