In-law thrown behind bars for US$5 000 theft

slapped with an effective seven-month jail term.
Ronny Chimuti (18) pleaded not guilty to two counts of unlawful entry and theft when he appeared before Chitungwiza magistrate Mr Godfrey Unzemoyo.
Chimuti went to his in-laws’ house in the same suburb.
He claimed to have left the house after 30 minutes. He later returned and sneaked into the house when there was no one and stole the money.
Mr Unzemoyo sentenced him to 12 months in jail but set aside five months on condition of good behaviour.
Prosecutor Mr Tendai Mukaviri told the court that on 29 September this year at around 8am Brighton Ndarowa placed his digital camera and cash amounting to US$4 500 into one of his jacket pockets.
The following day, Chimuti came pretending to see his sister knowing that she was not around.
All this while he was monitoring the situation.
When Ndarowa went to work, he left him behind with their maid.
After 30 minutes, he then told the maid that he was leaving and went to board a commuter omnibus.
At 11am, the maid decided to go to Zengeza 2 municipal offices to pay utility bills, leaving the house properly secured.
Chimuti returned to the house where he forced open the window and removed the burglar bar to gain entry.
He used his duplicate keys to gain entry into the main bedroom.
He ransacked the room and stole all the money and the camera.
Thereafter, he secured everything as before and disappeared from the scene.
Investigations were carried out leading to his arrest.