adminVivian Phiri, who resides at 13 Sickle Bush in Thorngrove, was reportedly six months pregnant when she was hired by a client, Mr Tendai Nyamanjiwa, at Gijima Night Club in the city centre where they were drinking.
The two reportedly went to the Zimbabwe National Army Headquarters One Brigade staff quarters where Mr Nyamanjiwa lived with the intention of having a nice time for the night.
Although it was not specified in the court documents whether Mr Nyamanjiwa was a soldier, Phiri reportedly went into labour while in his room and gave birth prematurely to a live baby.
She reportedly started having stomach pains and eventually went into labour at about 4.30am.
She killed the baby soon after giving birth in the presence of Mr Nyamanjiwa who reportedly then hired a taxi to take her to hospital while he remained in his house.
Phiri has now been charged with infanticide.
She was convicted on her own plea of guilty when she appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Mrs Sibongile Msipa.
Phiri was lucky to escape the agony of jail life as the magistrate felt that despite the seriousness and prevalence of the offence, it was not proper to incarcerate her because of her age.
The magistrate said: “A deterrent sentence is called for both to deter the offender and would-be offenders but in this case imprisonment is not suitable for such a youthful first offender. If sent to prison she would become a hardened criminal and be a problem to society.”
Phiri was then sentenced to 24 months in prison of which six months were suspended for five years on condition she does not within that period commit a similar offence while the remaining 18 months were commuted to 630 hours of community service at the Jairos Jiri Association premises in Nguboyenja starting next week.
For the State, Mr Dumisani Moyo told the court that on Saturday last week Phiri and Mr Nyamanjiwa were drinking beer at Gijima Night Club.
The two went to ZNA Headquarters One Brigade and at about 4.30am the following day, Phiri suddenly went into labour after having sex with her client and gave birth to a baby, which she intentionally killed.
She told the court that she stood up when she felt pain in her stomach and the baby fell to the floor.
Mr Nyamanjiwa, who was in the same room when the baby was born, immediately phoned a taxi, which arrived.
Mr Nyamanjiwa paid the taxi driver US$5 to take Phiri to the hospital and he remained behind.
The court heard that the taxi driver became suspicious and drove to Bulawayo Central Police Station where he handed Phiri to the police.
A policeman who attended to her discovered that the baby was not breathing and referred her to hospital to be examined by the doctor and it was confirmed that it was dead, leading to the arrest of Phiri.
A post-mortem confirmed the baby had been killed.
Appearing before a different court, a policeman based at the ZRP Ntabazinduna Training Depot, Kudakwashe Mtombeni, reportedly hired a lady of the night who he went on a drinking spree with throughout the night before she stole from him.
Mtombeni, who sells airtime recharge cards at his workplace, told the court that he lost recharge cards valued at about US$200, two cellphones and a passport to Priscilla Banda who she intended to take to his place of residence after their drinking spree.
The court heard that Mtombeni had promised to pay the lady US$20 for the night and the two went from night club to night club in the city centre intending to go home in the early hours of the morning, but the woman ended up stealing from him after seeing that he was now talking to other women at one of the night clubs.
Banda was, however, discharged at the close of the State’s case as she told the court that Mtombeni had hired her for US$20 and that he had given her the cellphone to use for the night.
The passport and phones were recovered while the other property valued at about US$650 was not recovered.
Online Reporter