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Court Reporter
A 50-year-old woman, who was convicted of ill-treating her minor child by denying her food and forcing her into nightclubs, yesterday escaped jail by a whisker when a Harare magistrate set aside the jail term on condition she performs 105 hours of community service. The daughter, a 10-year-old Grade Five pupil in Harare, reported her mother to the police for physical and psychological abuse.
The girl, whose parents are divorced, narrated in court how her mother physically and verbally assaulted her and at times called her a prostitute.
The woman was convicted for contravening the Children’s Act after a full trial.
Magistrate Mr Milton Serima sentenced the woman to six months in prison and suspended three months on condition of good behaviour.
The remaining three months were set aside on condition the woman performs 105 hours of community service at the Rotten Row Magistrates’ Courts.
In passing sentence, Mr Serima said: “It is not easy for a 10-year-old child to report a case to the police against her mother. This shows that the abuse has been going on for a very long time. She has been traumatised for a very long time hence the need to punish the mother,” he said.
In her evidence-in-chief during trial, the girl said when her father brought school fees and money to buy books, the mother used it to buy alcohol.
She said all the family property was attached by the Deputy Sheriff over debts and she slept on the floor without blankets. The mother returned home in the wee hours of the morning from nightclubs.
“Mommy always tells me that I am HIV-positive and that I am going to die soon. I get food from our neighbour and she is also the one who gave me a blanket. I sometimes go to school on an empty stomach hence I cannot concentrate in class.
“When she takes me to the nightclubs, she orders me not to tell daddy,” she told the court.
The minor’s evidence was corroborated by a neighbour, her headmaster and the probation officer.
The girl said she preferred to stay with her stepmother whom she described as a loving person.
However, the mother, a former bank teller, denied the allegations.
Meanwhile, a city man is said to have broken into his sister’s bedroom and sprinkled paraffin on her and the children before trying to set them ablaze.
Bella Dube claimed her brother Vincent was violent towards her over petty issues.
Dube made the revelations at the Civil Court where she was seeking a protection order against Vincent.
“He tried to set me and my children ablaze after breaking into my bedroom and sprinkling paraffin on us,” she said.
Dube told Mr Nyatsanza that she was the one taking care of Vincent ever since their parents died yet he did not respecting her.
Vincent did not show up at the court.
Mr Nyatsanza granted the order in default, barring Vincent from threatening, verbally or physically abuse Dube.
Online Reporter