A WOMAN from Bulawayo who slit her new born baby's throat and lied to her boyfriend that she suffered a miscarriage has been sentenced to 36 months in prison.
Alaika Dube (21) last week told a court she killed the baby because she had cheated on her boyfriend and got impregnated by a married man.
Western Commonage magistrate Miss Tancy Dube jailed her on Wednesday.
"This court sentences you to three years in jail. Six months will be suspended for five years on condition that you do not commit a similar offence.
The remaining 30 months, you will serve them in jail," said Miss Dube.
Alaika, from Mpopoma suburb, slit her baby's throat with a kitchen knife, wrapped it in a plastic bag and placed it in a suitcase.
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| Baby killer gets 36 months |
In mitigation, Alaika said her boyfriend was not the baby's father.
"The father of the child didn't want anything to do with the baby. I had no option but to kill it because I thought it would create tension between me and my boyfriend," said Dube.
Prosecuting, Ms Magret Takawira told the court that on July 16 at around 5AM, Dube gave birth to a mature baby boy.
"The accused person slit the baby's throat with a knife, wrapped the body in a plastic bag and hid it in a suitcase. When her boyfriend woke up, he saw a pool of blood and the accused person said she had a miscarriage," she said.
Muchingambi, in his statement, said Dube kept getting out of bed throughout the night.
"Around 5AM, she told me that she wanted to relieve herself but wanted to use a bucket. Although I was half awake I still recall hearing a brief cry of a baby. When I asked her about it she said she didn't hear the sound," read the statement.
Muchingambi said he rushed Alaika to hospital and doctors said she had given birth.
"I went back and informed the police at Western Commonage and we went together to search at my place. That's when we found the baby in a plastic bag," he said.
Source: Chronicle
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