News / National
Woman buries her 3 day old baby alive
09 Feb 2014 at 08:42hrs | Views
A Chitungwiza woman confessed to having buried her three-day-old baby alive in a bid to enhance her chances of reuniting with her estranged husband.
Erica Mushamba (38) pleaded guilty to infanticide when she appeared before Chitungwiza magistrate Mr Kudakwashe Jarabini last week. She told the court that she resorted to the callous act as she doubted that her estranged husband, who had hinted at a reunion, would take her back together with another man's child. The court heard that on January 19 this year, Mushamba, who had been impregnated by a man she had hooked up with after separating from her husband, gave birth to a baby boy in her bedroom and kept the baby there for three days. During the same period, her estranged husband informed her that he would be visiting her for the purposes of settling their differences.
It is then that Mushamba decided to enhance her chances of the reunion by killing the baby. She shared her plan with her eldest daughter, Zvikomborero Mushamba, who advised her to take the baby to his father.
However, on January 22 at around 2pm, Mushamba dug a pit in a garden behind her house and buried the baby alive. The matter came to light on January 30 when Zvikomborero's boyfriend, Kudakwashe Travolta Mate, was going through his girlfriend's mobile phone and saw messages that claimed Mushamba had buried the baby alive. Mate immediately reported the matter to the police who recovered the baby's body eight days after it had been buried alive.
Mushamba, who is out of custody on bail, will be sentenced tomorrow.
Erica Mushamba (38) pleaded guilty to infanticide when she appeared before Chitungwiza magistrate Mr Kudakwashe Jarabini last week. She told the court that she resorted to the callous act as she doubted that her estranged husband, who had hinted at a reunion, would take her back together with another man's child. The court heard that on January 19 this year, Mushamba, who had been impregnated by a man she had hooked up with after separating from her husband, gave birth to a baby boy in her bedroom and kept the baby there for three days. During the same period, her estranged husband informed her that he would be visiting her for the purposes of settling their differences.
It is then that Mushamba decided to enhance her chances of the reunion by killing the baby. She shared her plan with her eldest daughter, Zvikomborero Mushamba, who advised her to take the baby to his father.
However, on January 22 at around 2pm, Mushamba dug a pit in a garden behind her house and buried the baby alive. The matter came to light on January 30 when Zvikomborero's boyfriend, Kudakwashe Travolta Mate, was going through his girlfriend's mobile phone and saw messages that claimed Mushamba had buried the baby alive. Mate immediately reported the matter to the police who recovered the baby's body eight days after it had been buried alive.
Mushamba, who is out of custody on bail, will be sentenced tomorrow.
Source - Sunday Mail
