News / National
Teenage girl, 13, steals car, kills kid
14 Mar 2015 at 16:16hrs | Views
A SAKUBVA teenage girl (13) did the unthinkable last Sunday when she stole her father's car and ran over a hapless six-year-old girl who sustained serious injuries and later died in hospital.
The accident shocked Mutare's oldest suburb and was the mainstay of public discourse this week.
Police have since blamed the teenager's father for negligence, saying he was supposed to have hid his car keys in a place out of reach of children.
Although Manicaland police spokesman Inspector Enock Chishiri said the teenager, whose name cannot be published because she is under age, stole the car keys, witnesses had their own version of events saying the Grade 7 pupil tried to drive the vehicle which was left idling by her father.
The incident happened in the OTS Section of the suburb.
The deceased's mother, Eunice Zhovha, said her daughter, Tashma, was killed on their way to a church service. She was lucky to be alive as the vehicle, a Toyota Ipsum, also ran over her right leg.
"I was on the way to church with Tashma when we passed by a house and I recall seeing the father of the teenage girl standing by his car. A few moments later after we passed I heard people shouting saying a car was coming our way from behind. Before I could do anything, the car hit my child and dragged her for a distance before it stopped against a heap of concrete stones. It also hit my leg, but the injuries I sustained were minor. We rushed my daughter to hospital but she was in great pain. Along the way, she started bleeding profusely from the nose and mouth. She died on admission to the hospital," she related.
A witness who spoke on condition of anonymity said the father of the teenage girl left the car idling and he saw his child getting into the car.
"I saw the car owner driving out of his yard and he left the car idling as he went back into the house. His child got into the car but I did not see how it started moving because I also went into my own house. Moments later I heard shouts from outside and when I got there the little girl had been hit and was trapped under the car," said the witness.
When asked what happened, the teenage's mother had this to say: "Up to now, I don't even know what happened. We were in the house with my husband when our daughter took the car keys from the kitchen unit.
"The next thing I heard were people crying and saying there had been an accident."
It was not clear at the time of going to press when Tashma would be buried but church members were holding a church service at the parents' house in Sakubva.
The accident shocked Mutare's oldest suburb and was the mainstay of public discourse this week.
Police have since blamed the teenager's father for negligence, saying he was supposed to have hid his car keys in a place out of reach of children.
Although Manicaland police spokesman Inspector Enock Chishiri said the teenager, whose name cannot be published because she is under age, stole the car keys, witnesses had their own version of events saying the Grade 7 pupil tried to drive the vehicle which was left idling by her father.
The incident happened in the OTS Section of the suburb.
The deceased's mother, Eunice Zhovha, said her daughter, Tashma, was killed on their way to a church service. She was lucky to be alive as the vehicle, a Toyota Ipsum, also ran over her right leg.
A witness who spoke on condition of anonymity said the father of the teenage girl left the car idling and he saw his child getting into the car.
"I saw the car owner driving out of his yard and he left the car idling as he went back into the house. His child got into the car but I did not see how it started moving because I also went into my own house. Moments later I heard shouts from outside and when I got there the little girl had been hit and was trapped under the car," said the witness.
When asked what happened, the teenage's mother had this to say: "Up to now, I don't even know what happened. We were in the house with my husband when our daughter took the car keys from the kitchen unit.
"The next thing I heard were people crying and saying there had been an accident."
It was not clear at the time of going to press when Tashma would be buried but church members were holding a church service at the parents' house in Sakubva.
Source - manicapost
