-caged 30years
MARTIN MAWAYA
Shurugwi– A 24-year-old man has been sentenced to effective 30 years in prison for murdering his 3-month-old stepdaughter.
Tatenda Masunda of Donga location in Chachacha, Shurugwi pleaded not guilty but was convicted of murder by Justice Munamato Mutevedzi after a full trial at a High Court sitting in Gweru.
Prosecutor Justin Uladi presented the evidence that Masunda murdered his stepdaughter with acid.
He told the court that on November 3, 2022, around 5am, Masunda was left to look after his 3-month-old stepdaughter while the child’s mother went to the communal borehole to do laundry.
“During the mother’s absence, the accused orally administered nitric acid to the deceased. The accused then took the deceased to the borehole where her mother was. Deceased was now crying due to the pain caused by acid ingestion,” said Uladi.
Uladi said after the incident, Masunda fled to Chegutu, while his stepdaughter later died upon admission at Shurugwi Hospital.
Five witnesses testified to the brutal murder, with the deceased’s mother Muchaneta Zindere recounting how her daughter died after she was forced to drink acid.
“The child’s mouth was whitish, her lips were swollen while her body had turned purple. She was vomiting blood and had froth on the mouth,” Zindere narrated.
She told the court that when they proceeded to the crime scene with the police, they recovered a 200ml plastic container of ranger spirit.
Zindere said she was choked when she smelled the contents in the container.
The deceased’s mother added that “she accidentally dropped the container and the liquid spilled on Sergeant Magamure’s legs. He was burnt and his trousers were corroded”.
According to the postmortem report, the child died from ingestion of a toxic substance and pulmonary hemorrhage.
