Bikita baby thief thrown behind bars

Drawo presided over the case.
She conditionally suspended six months of the sentence. Shumba is however, expected to appear in court this month for stealing another eight-month-old baby. Her first victim was two months old.
It was the State’s case Shumba, who was employed at Bishopstone Estate, had a still birth but did not inform her husband.
On the afternoon of April 19, Shumba was left in the custody of a two-month-old baby by her employer. She was expected to take the baby to its grandmother while the mother was away. Shumba disappeared with the baby and went to River Ranch Diamond Mine where her husband works.
She lied to her husband that she had given birth to the baby.
The complainant later discovered that the baby had been stolen when she came back from work. She went to Bikita looking for Shumba and discovered that she was staying with her husband in Beitbridge.
The complainant and her husband went to River Ranch Mine where they recovered their baby but did not make a police report.
The baby was recovered while Shumba’s husband was at work and she lied that the child had been taken to Bikita by her parents.
She was however, arrested when she stole another baby from a blind woman she befriended at Dulibadzimu bus terminus.
The State further alleged that on April 24 the complainant Memory Dube decided to take a nap and left the baby in Shumba’s custody.
Shumba disappeared with the baby.
She shaved the baby and took it to her husband indicating that she was coming from the rural areas.
The husband however, queried the baby’s age and physical appearance.
Meanwhile, the blind woman had reported the matter to the police.
Investigations led to the arrest of Shumba through the assistance of members of the public. She confessed to stealing the two-month-old baby as well.