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Reserving judgment in the case of Mhlupeki Ngwenya, judges of Appeal, Justices Vernanda Ziyambi, Paddington Garwe and acting Judge of Appeal, Justice Nicholas Ndou said they needed time to go through the submissions made by the lawyer and the State counsel.
Ngwenya separated with his wife sometime in May 1999.
After the separation, Ngwenya’s wife took their daughter to her parents’ home at Chalmer Farm compound in Umguza District.
On 1 July 1999, Ngwenya visited his in-laws’ home and asked for his daughter’s clothes and took the child to his house at Mbuyazwe Primary School within the same compound.
He later took his home-made knife and carried the baby in his armpit to a bushy area.
He laid the child on the ground and cut her in the neck and she died on the spot.
He was later arrested with the assistance of fellow compound residents.
He pleaded not guilty but was convicted of murder with actual intent.
In his appeal, Ngwenya through his pro deo lawyer, Mr Simbarashe Chivaura, of Mashayamombe and Company argued that he was suffering from a diminished responsibility as his behaviour was not consistent with a normal person.
He noted that that in his defence during trial, Ngwenya alluded to the fact that he suffered from some form of diminished mental responsibility when he committed the offence.
“The appellant killed his own daughter in cold blood. The history of the appellant and the deceased’s mother was not a good one. The court was correct to observe that appellant had no reason to take it on the innocent child his problems with the mother.
“The appellant’s behaviour clearly shows that he was labouring under some form of mental disorder. His killing of their daughter cannot be rationally explained. The behaviour is quite consistent with someone who was demented. No rational person in their proper senses would butcher their own offspring in the manner that appellant did except when one is suffering from some form of mental incapacity,” submitted Mr Chivaura.
It is his contention that the court ought to have found Ngwenya’s moral blameworthiness was vitiated by his mental state at the time.
He said the court ought to have returned a verdict of guilty of culpable homicide and not murder with actual intent.
In response, Mr Simbarashe Timothy Makoni, of the Attorney General’s Office submitted that there was no misdirection on the part of the trial court adding that the nature of the offence and how it was committed overrides any extenuation.
Online Reporter