Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
A NINE-YEAR-OLD girl has been rescued from an alleged cycle of abuse that persisted for years at the hands of her brutal stepmother, who tortured and burnt her palms with hot melted plastic, inflicting burns and causing severe skin damage in September.
The victim, now in the care of her aunt, Ms Lancy Nyagutu, was staying with her father and stepmother – Precious Mudzinganyama – since 2022.
This follows her father’s alleged coercive acquisition of her custody after divorcing her biological mother, who has since relocated to South Africa.
At the time of the abuse, the girl was enrolled at Mutare Adventist Primary School (MAPS), but has since been transferred to a different school.
The abuse was exposed when MAPS staff noticed the child’s severe injuries, and reported the matter to the authorities, prompting an investigation that exposed the deep-seated and concealed abuse.
Mudzinganyama (29), has since been convicted of ill-treatment or neglect of children and young persons, as defined in Section 7(1) as read with Section 57(5) of the Children’s Act (Chapter 5:06), by Mutare provincial magistrate, Ms Anniah Ndiraya.
Mr Thurstone Mubvumbi prosecuted.
It was the State case that on September 27, Mudzinganyama ill-treated the victim by assaulting her with electrical cables several times on her back and forearms, before torturing her palms with hot and melting plastic in a manner that caused unnecessary suffering, and or be detrimental to her morals or any part or function of her body and mind.
“On September 27, the minor assaulted Mudzinganyama’s six-year-old son. This angered Mudzinganyama who burnt the girl’s palms with hot melting plastics. She also assaulted her with electrical cables several times on the back, legs and arms.
“On September 29, the minor went to school and told her headmistress, Mrs Joice Tapfumanei, about the incident, and that is how a police report was made,” said Mr Mubvumbi.
Mudzinganyama was waiting for sentencing yesterday (Thursday).
Awkwardly, during trial, the father (name withheld) defended his wife, accusing his daughter of lying against her.
“My daughter is a liar, she burnt herself while trying to destroy plastics of chips that she had stolen. She was trying to conceal the evidence and burnt herself,” he said.
Speaking in an interview, the minor (name withheld), recounted how Mudzinganyama allegedly tortured her after an altercation with her stepbrother.
She said her stepbrother (six) provoked her, leading to the fight.
When Mudzinganyama entered the room and saw the two children fighting, she allegedly ordered the girl to sit still.
“I got into a fight with my six-year-old stepbrother. He started the fight, and I fought back. When she saw it, she took a plastic and matches. She lit the plastic and burnt my hands. The melting plastic dropped onto my palms. I cried for help, but she kept holding me, demanding that I shut up,” she said.
The girl said Mudzinganyama ordered her not to reveal what had happened to anyone, including her father.
“She instructed me not to disclose what had happened to my father. She told me to lie that I had burnt myself while playing,” she said.
When her father returned that evening and inquired about the injuries, the girl repeated the rehearsed lies out of fear.
The father described her actions as stubborn. No medical assistance was sought for her, resulting in blisters forming on both palms overnight.
“The following day, which was a Sunday, blisters developed on my palms. She took a needle and popped them. She applied methylated spirit on the wounds,” she said.
It was only when she went to school on Monday when the truth surfaced.
Staff members at the school dining hall noticed her injuries and alerted senior officials.
“The ladies at the dining hall saw my hands and asked what had happened. I told them the truth, and they instructed me to tell the school head. I told the head who reported the matter to the police,” she said.
After the school reported the matter, child protection officials conducted a further physical inspection.
In an interview, the girl’s aunt, one Ms Nyagutu, said her body was covered with scars caused by beatings with electrical cables and lacerations allegedly inflicted by nails.
“She scratched my hands with nails, and on this particular day my father was present. He just turned a blind eye. Instead, he said I was stubborn as I had forgotten my shoes at school. I was never taken to the hospital or given any medication. Instead, I would bleed from the wounds inflicted by the sharp and pointy nails. The next day, I would go to school with a long-sleeved uniform to avoid any detection,” she said.
The Department of Social Welfare intervened, removing the child from the household and placing her temporarily under Simukai Child Protection Services.
During the social workers’ assessment, the girl pleaded to be placed under her aunt’s custody.
Ms Nyagutu said she was unaware of the abuse because she stopped communication with her brother (the girl’s father) after his second marriage.
“After divorcing his first wife, my brother took the child from her mother in 2022. He stayed with her and his new wife, who had her own child, who is now six-years-old. We ended up not talking, and for two years I did not know where they were staying here in Mutare,” she said.
Ms Nyagutu said she only learnt about the alleged abuse when her brother’s wife was arrested.
“I only got to know that my niece was being abused after my brother’s wife was arrested. The child was taken from their custody by the Department of Social Welfare and placed under Simukai Child Protection Services’ care,” she said.
Authorities asked about family members who could take over her custody, but the father allegedly denied having any relatives willing to care of the child.
“They said my brother refused to disclose names of any relatives that they could release the child to since him and his wife were possible dangers to her (the child). Instead, the child directed the care workers to my workplace, and I ended up getting full custody of the child. I have already transferred her from her previous school,” she said.
