News / National
Child burning parents jailed
29 May 2015 at 14:54hrs | Views
The abusive Raffingora couple that dipped an 8-year old girl's hand in boiling cooking oil as punishment over goat meat she had eaten without permission was handed a two year jail sentence each by Chinhoyi Regional Magistrate Never Katiyo.
39-year old Simbayi Muzhange, father of the complainant, and his 28-year old wife Muchanyara Nyahuma, the stepmother of the minor appeared before Katiyo and where charged with contravening a section of the Children's Act.
The two were handed a maximum jail sentence of two years each for the offence after the regional magistrate ruled that the accused burnt the child in the most cruel manner.
The two love birds allegedly tied the minor's legs and hands before the child's father ordered her to pick a peg in boiling cooking oil as punishment for serving herself sadza and goat meat for lunch on her return home from school.
The girl, however, resisted the order after which her father allegedly held her right hand and forcibly dipped it into the hot oil, resulting in her receiving severe burns on three of her fingers.
The couple did not bother to take the child to hospital.
Regional Magistrate Katiyo said the couple is not supposed to take custody of the minor girl if her mother is still alive, saying should they want custody of the child or other minor children, they have to apply through the courts of law.
In mitigation, the couple had appealed for a lesser sentence saying they are HIV positive but Katiyo ruled that the moral blameworthiness of the two is high and that a maximum jail sentence would meet the justice of the case.
39-year old Simbayi Muzhange, father of the complainant, and his 28-year old wife Muchanyara Nyahuma, the stepmother of the minor appeared before Katiyo and where charged with contravening a section of the Children's Act.
The two were handed a maximum jail sentence of two years each for the offence after the regional magistrate ruled that the accused burnt the child in the most cruel manner.
The two love birds allegedly tied the minor's legs and hands before the child's father ordered her to pick a peg in boiling cooking oil as punishment for serving herself sadza and goat meat for lunch on her return home from school.
The couple did not bother to take the child to hospital.
Regional Magistrate Katiyo said the couple is not supposed to take custody of the minor girl if her mother is still alive, saying should they want custody of the child or other minor children, they have to apply through the courts of law.
In mitigation, the couple had appealed for a lesser sentence saying they are HIV positive but Katiyo ruled that the moral blameworthiness of the two is high and that a maximum jail sentence would meet the justice of the case.
Source - zbc
