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Court Reporter
Three children in Chitungwiza had to relieve themselves in dishes and beg for food from neighbours after their divorced parents abandoned them. The parents were recently brought before magistrate Mr Kudakwashe Jarabini to answer to charges of ill-treating or neglecting children.
After finding them guilty, Mr Jarabini sentenced the mother to a wholly suspended five-month jail term, while the father will perform 140 hours of community service at St Mary’s Primary School.
The eldest of the three children is six-years-old and she has been looking after her two sisters aged four and three.
When their parents divorced, the mother took the children with her to her parents’ rural home.
However, their 30-year-old father, who works as a commuter omnibus conductor, went to take the children and accused the mother of being a prostitute who was unfit to care for the minors.
The court heard that between June and December this year back in Chitungwiza, the father would go to work early in the morning and leave the children alone without food and access to toilet facilities.
This forced the three to defecate in plates and dishes, and beg for food from neighbours and passers-by.
The children narrowly escaped death when their blankets caught fire while they were home alone.
A concerned neighbour reported the matter to the police, leading to the arrest of the parents.
The couple pleaded guilty to ill-treating or neglecting children.
Mr Edmond Ndambakuwa appeared for the State.
Online Reporter