A 21-year-old Gwanda woman, who terminated her pregnancy after discovering that the boyfriend who impregnated her is her maternal uncle, has been sentenced to perform 210 hours of community service. PERPETUAL PHIRI OWN CORRESPONDENT
Chelesile Moyo pleaded guilty to an unlawful termination of pregnancy charge when she appeared before the Gwanda magistrate Sheila Nazombe on Monday.
She was sentenced to 12 months in prison. Five months were suspended for five years on condition that she does not commit a similar offence within that period.
The remaining seven months were wholly suspended on condition that she performs 210 hours of community service at the Gwanda Magistrates’ Court.
Prosecutor Jefta Nyikadzinashe told the court that on November 3 at around 3pm, Moyo hatched a plan to terminate her five-month pregnancy after experiencing problems with her boyfriend Douglas Nyathi.
She went to a nearby bush where she boiled a concoction and drank a cupful.
At around 8pm, Moyo started experiencing stomach pains and induced an abortion.
She discharged the foetus into a bucket and dumped it in a pit about 200m away from the house unnoticed.
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The matter came into light on November 6 when Nyathi noticed that her pregnancy had disappeared.
Nyathi made a report to the police, leading to Moyo’s arrest.
In her defence, Moyo told the court that she terminated the pregnancy because she was confused and did not know what to do after she had discovered that Nyathi is her uncle.
“I was confused your worship,” Moyo said. “I tried to tell my grandmother about my problems, but she told me to just go and be with the person responsible for the pregnancy.
“I want to apologies for what I did. I have a two-year-old child and have been told that if I go to prison my child will be taken away by my ex-husband and will be in the custody of his wife,” Moyo said.
Nazombe told Moyo that she was not expecting her to commit such an offence since she had once experienced the joy of having a baby.
“You are able to look after yourself and your baby since you earlier indicated that you raise money from your tenants’ rentals. So you were simply supposed to leave your boyfriend if you were confused than to terminate the pregnancy. I hope you have learnt a lesson from this stupid act of yours. So please next time you must fall pregnant with the right person,” the magistrate said.
