Zim woman dumps baby in blair toilet, denied bail in Botswana

An illegal Zimbabwean woman has been charged by a Botswana magistrate for allegedly dumping her newly born baby in a blair toilet in Francistown.

The suspected female border jumper, Shylet Muzenda (28), of Monarch in Francistown appeared before Francistown magistrate Onneile Ntwaayapelo on Wednesday charged with a single count of concealing birth. The court heard that on April 3, 2013 in Monarch, Muzenda with malicious intentions concealed her birth and dumped her newly born baby in a pit latrine.

Suspicious neighbours interrogated her about what happened to her pregnancy. Initially  she  lied that the child had died when giving birth at Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital.

Following further intensive interrogations by the concerned neighbours Muzenda revealed that she gave birth at home and dumped the child into a pit latrine. Police were called to retrieve the baby who emerged dead.

Prosecuting officer Mengistu Chigala applied that Muzenda be remanded in custody because she was an illegal immigrant without a passport.

"The accused person has failed to produce a travelling document in the form of a passport when asked to do so. In fact, she does not have a travelling document. Chances of her skipping the country if granted bail at this juncture are very high," said the prosecution when applying for Muzenda to be locked up.

The magistrate granted the application made by the prosecution and remanded Muzenda in custody until April 31, 2013 when she will appear for a another court mention.