(Last Updated on January 18, 2016 by Editor)
ZIMBABWE – A Waterfalls woman has been slapped with 315 hours of unpaid work for dumping her newly born baby in a graveyard.
Mercy Madziva pleaded guilty when she appeared before mbare magistrate Gladys Moyo charged with exposing an infant to danger.
Madziva was initially sentenced to 13 months in prison, three months were suspended for good behavior and the remaining ten months were set aside for 350 hours of community service
The State led by James Manyuchi proved that Madziva gave birth tied her baby’s neck with her t-shirt, took a plastic and placed the foetus in a plastic bag.
Madziva then sneaked out of her house at dawn and dumped her baby in a graveyard.
A lady was passing by the cemetery she heard baby crying and she see where the baby was.
As she drew closer to the graveyard she found out that the black plastic she had seen was where the sound was coming from.
The lady then took the baby to a police post near the graveyard.
The court proved that the foetus was still attached to an untied umbilical code, the police then took the baby to Harare Central hospital for medical attention.
The police then made further investigations which led to Madziva as the foetus’s mother leading to Madziva’s arrest.