A Zimbabwean police officer based in Beit Bridge was sentenced to an effective three years in jail for throwing a sleeping two-year-old baby out of a moving vehicle.

Prosper Jemoth Nhamoinesu pleaded not guilty to an attempted murder charge but was convicted by a local regional magistrate Mr Owen Tagu on Friday, 9 September.

The prosecutor, Mr Johannes Tlou, said that on January 16 last year, the victim was travelling with her parents in a family car, which was being driven by the father. The family was travelling from Beit Bridge and heading towards Tuli village.

The court heard that, on arrival at the Limpopo Business Centre, they found Nhamoinesu, who was in the company of work mates, waiting for transport to travel to Tuli. Nhamoinesu and his colleagues were then offered a lift by the victim’s father.

The court heard that Nhamoinesu chose to occupy a front seat where he joined the victim’s mother, who also seated in front while holding the baby.

Along the way, Nhamoinesu offered to hold the baby and the mother obliged, during which time the baby fell asleep in his arms. Nhamoinesu, who was in a drunken stupor, threw the sleeping baby out of the moving vehicle through the window. The baby fell headlong and sustained severe head injuries.

After the incident, he pretended that nothing had happened and the victim’s father stopped the car. Nhamoinesu was arrested by his colleagues and the baby was taken to the Beit Bridge District Hospital, where a medical report was compiled.