Online Reporter
Dalyn Chigwizura, Court Reporter
A 27-year-old woman from Bulawayo who killed a python valued at US$2 000 was yesterday handed a wholly suspended six-month prison sentence.
Sindisiwe Sibanda, of Emthunzini suburb, appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Mr Jeconia Prince Ncube, who convicted her of contravening the Parks and Wildlife Act by hunting a specially protected animal.
She was sentenced to six months in prison, wholly suspended for three years on the condition that she does not commit a similar offence during that period.
Sibanda pleaded not guilty, telling the court that she had been “possessed by ancestral spirits” when she killed the python.
Prosecutor Ms Cathrine Kuzu told the court that the offence occurred on 4 October.
“On that day, the accused found a python at her residence and killed it by striking it with stones. She then skinned the reptile and kept the skin in her house,” said the prosecutor.
Acting on a tip-off, police visited Sibanda’s home, where they discovered her drying the python skin in her bedroom. They also recovered the snake’s head and tail.
Sibanda was asked to produce a licence or permit authorising her to kill the python or possess its skin, but she failed to do so, leading to her arrest.
The recovered skin, head, and tail were weighed at Zimpost in Sibanda’s presence, with the skin alone weighing 0,197kg. The items were later examined by a ZimParks ecologist, who confirmed they were from a python.
Pythons are listed under the highest protection category in Zimbabwe, and killing one without a permit is a serious offence that typically attracts custodial sentences.
