Chronicle Editor
Wilbrought Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter
POLICE in Zvishavane have arrested a 23-year-old woman after she suffocated her newly born baby and buried it in a shallow grave.
Oteda Nyakabawo of village Mabhara under chief Mapanzure in Zvishavane allegedly killed her newly born baby by suffocating it using a blanket and buried the body in a shallow grave 500 metres from the homestead after giving birth on 29 December 2023.
Police spokesperson for Midlands Province Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko said the incident happened on 29 December at a homestead where Nyakabawo was employed as a house maid.
“Allegations are that Nyakabawo who was pregnant and employed as a house maid in village Mabhara under Chief Mapanzura in Zvishavane informed her workmate Thembisani Ndlovu (27) that she was having labour pains while seated in the kitchen,” he said.
She later gave birth to a live baby around 5.30pm and was seen taking the baby wrapped in a blanket to her bedroom.
“It is alleged that around 6pm on the same day, Nyakabawo suffocated the baby to death by covering it with a blanket. When it was dark she put the body in a plastic bag and buried it in a shallow grave some 500 meters away from the homestead.
“The following day, her workmate Ndlovu noticed that Nyakabawo had no child and asked her the whereabouts of her baby and she confessed that she killed and buried it,” he said.
The matter was reported to the police in Zvishavane and they attended the scene and arrested her.
She led the police to the shallow grave where the dead body was exhumed and taken to Zvishavane District Hospital mortuary and investigations are under way.
Asst Insp Mahoko urged mothers who encounter challenges associated with nursing newly born babies are encouraged to seek help from health professionals than committing crimes.
Bongani Ndlovu