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Zimbabwean woman sentenced to 4 years for illegal possession of elephant tusk
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A Zimbabwean woman has been sentenced to four years in jail and fined P20,000 for illegal possession of an elephant tusk in Botswana.
Nokuthula Sithembile Khumalo (37) of Plumtree, Matabeleland South, was caught by police officers with a tusk at Nswazwi Mall near Chicken Licken on June 29.
During the arrest, she was accompanied by her nephew, Gilbert Tasiiwa, who was also arrested but later released as he knew nothing about the tusk.
The court heard that Tasiiwa had just met Khumalo at the mall to buy shoes, and she had asked him to carry a bag for her.
While they were still at the mall, police officers confronted them and searched the blue bag, in which they found a 12.5 kg sack of maize meal containing one whitish object wrapped in three different cloths.
Khumalo told the police that it was her tusk, claiming she had found it in Plumtree and had asked her nephew to assist her in carrying it.
The tusk was taken to the Bureau of Standards, where it was found to weigh 5.3 kg. Khumalo pleaded for leniency, stating that she is a first-time offender.
“I am asking for forgiveness; this is my first time clashing with the law, and I will never do it again,” she pleaded.
Her request for leniency was dismissed, and she was fined P20,000 and sentenced to four years in prison.
Nokuthula Sithembile Khumalo (37) of Plumtree, Matabeleland South, was caught by police officers with a tusk at Nswazwi Mall near Chicken Licken on June 29.
During the arrest, she was accompanied by her nephew, Gilbert Tasiiwa, who was also arrested but later released as he knew nothing about the tusk.
The court heard that Tasiiwa had just met Khumalo at the mall to buy shoes, and she had asked him to carry a bag for her.
While they were still at the mall, police officers confronted them and searched the blue bag, in which they found a 12.5 kg sack of maize meal containing one whitish object wrapped in three different cloths.
Khumalo told the police that it was her tusk, claiming she had found it in Plumtree and had asked her nephew to assist her in carrying it.
The tusk was taken to the Bureau of Standards, where it was found to weigh 5.3 kg. Khumalo pleaded for leniency, stating that she is a first-time offender.
“I am asking for forgiveness; this is my first time clashing with the law, and I will never do it again,” she pleaded.
Her request for leniency was dismissed, and she was fined P20,000 and sentenced to four years in prison.
Source - Byo24News
