Six moths imprisonment for killing baby

A 22-year-old Zimbabwean woman in Beit Bridge, who had dumped her newborn baby into a sewage pipe in Dulibadzimu, was sentenced to an effective six months in jail on Monday.

Nokuthula Dube, of House Number 1216 Dulibadzimu suburb in the border town, was convicted after pleading guilty to contravening a section of the Criminal Law (Reform and Codification) Act (infanticide) when she appeared before Beit Bridge magistrate Mr Tawengwa Sangster. She was sentenced to six months in prison with hard labour.

The prosecutor, Mr Mazwi Goto, said that on 22 April at around 02:00, the accused experienced labour pains, and she subsequently gave birth to a baby boy. She then put the infant in a bucket, muffled the baby by using old rugs before taking it to a nearby drainage pipe where she dumped the baby.

Soon after that, Dube went back home where she was eventually confronted by her sister, who asked why she was bleeding. Shetold her sister, however, that she had had a miscarriage.

Dube’s sister continued to interrogate her until the accused eventually told her the truth. The two then went to a place where Dube had dumped the baby and a report was made to the police, leading to her arrest.

News - Date: 16 May 2008

Mashudu Netsianda

Mashudu Netsianda is our correspondent in Beit Bridge, Zimbabwe. He joined us in 2006, writing both local and international stories. He had worked for several Zimbabwean publications, as well as the Times of Swaziland. Mashudu received his training at the School of Mass Communication in Harare.

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