News / National
Woman strangled newborn and wrapped her in plastic
06 Jun 2011 at 08:44hrs | Views
A Harare woman (30) has been arrested after she allegedly strangled her newborn girl with an umbilical code soon after a home birth on Tuesday night. She allegedly killed her newborn by tying her neck with the umbilical code and plastics.
Its reported that she wrapped the body of the baby in a plastic bag and put it in a metal dish before concealing it at a toilet behind their house.
A close relative called the police after discovering the body and Phoebe Nambaza was arrested. The body of the infant was taken to Harare Hospital.
"I arrived here last night (Tuesday) from Nyanga on a visit. "It was this morning when I was preparing to go to bath and wanted to use the dish. "At first I thought it was in the toilet which is located in the backyard. "I realised that it was not in the bathroom and searched around.
"It was when I came across the plastic bag and the shawl. "I pulled the plastic bag only to discover that there was something that appeared like a baby. "I then called Mai Tadiwa who unwrapped the plastic bag and the shawl," said Nancy. She also suspected that Phoebe could have killed the baby by tying its neck with plastics and the umbilical code.
"It appears as if she used the baby's umbilical code and some plastics to kill her baby. "The umbilical code and some plastics were woven around her neck. "That suggested that she could have killed the baby soon after giving birth," she said. Phoebe's cousin who claimed to be looking after Phoebe said that he was also shocked when he first heard of the news. He said he was not aware that she was pregnant until Wednesday afternoon.
"I never detected any signs of pregnancy. She used to wear long and over-sized dresses. "I thought it was the way she liked to dress little did I know that she was hiding something from us. "She is at Mbare police station and I am not sure how they are going to treat the matter," he said. Phoebe was force matched to Mbare police station holding the dead baby in a dish in her hands.
Dozens of chanting residents thronged her place threatening to beat her up. However, she was lucky to leave unscathed as the police escorted her to the police station.
Its reported that she wrapped the body of the baby in a plastic bag and put it in a metal dish before concealing it at a toilet behind their house.
A close relative called the police after discovering the body and Phoebe Nambaza was arrested. The body of the infant was taken to Harare Hospital.
"I arrived here last night (Tuesday) from Nyanga on a visit. "It was this morning when I was preparing to go to bath and wanted to use the dish. "At first I thought it was in the toilet which is located in the backyard. "I realised that it was not in the bathroom and searched around.
"It was when I came across the plastic bag and the shawl. "I pulled the plastic bag only to discover that there was something that appeared like a baby. "I then called Mai Tadiwa who unwrapped the plastic bag and the shawl," said Nancy. She also suspected that Phoebe could have killed the baby by tying its neck with plastics and the umbilical code.
"It appears as if she used the baby's umbilical code and some plastics to kill her baby. "The umbilical code and some plastics were woven around her neck. "That suggested that she could have killed the baby soon after giving birth," she said. Phoebe's cousin who claimed to be looking after Phoebe said that he was also shocked when he first heard of the news. He said he was not aware that she was pregnant until Wednesday afternoon.
"I never detected any signs of pregnancy. She used to wear long and over-sized dresses. "I thought it was the way she liked to dress little did I know that she was hiding something from us. "She is at Mbare police station and I am not sure how they are going to treat the matter," he said. Phoebe was force matched to Mbare police station holding the dead baby in a dish in her hands.
Dozens of chanting residents thronged her place threatening to beat her up. However, she was lucky to leave unscathed as the police escorted her to the police station.
Source - Byo24News
