She has since been sent to a rehabilitation institution, Ingutsheni Central hospital in Bulawayo, for treatment after which she will go home.
High Court judge, Nicholas Ndou, ruled that at the time the girl committed the crime, she was too young and warranted mental treatment instead of a criminal sentence. The law stipulates a death sentence for murder crimes committed in no extenuating circumstances.
However, minors cannot be sent to the guillotine.
In the case of the teenager, the court heard that she was left at home to look after her six-month-old niece while her mother went to work in the fields.
She was also asked to look after the sheep and a lamb. Around noon, she took the infant to its mother in the fields to be fed. When she came back with the infant she discovered that the sheep and lamb had strayed.
Unable to calm the crying infant, the teenage girl suffocated it and left it in the bush. The girl took refuge in a neighbour’s house and was later arrested.
Post published in: News