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Mashudu Netsianda  Senior Court Reporter
THE heart-broken parents of a 10-month old baby who died after he was stuffed in a linen drawer by a maid in 2013 are still bitter and say they will never forgive the murderer, whom they said deserved to rot in prison.Violet Moyo, 22, was last week sentenced to 22 years in jail for killing the baby, Ethan Muthabisi Phiri.

Moyo wrapped the infant in a blanket and put him in a linen drawer at the head of a bed and closed it for three hours, leaving the baby to suffocate as she watched television.

Charles Phiri, 29, and his wife, Thabiso, 27, of Nketa 7 spoke in emotional interviews yesterday.

“We’re still bitter with our maid for killing our baby in a very brutal manner and we will never forgive her. She is very lucky that she was given 22 years imprisonment. I would’ve wanted her to rot in jail because what she did is very cruel,” said Phiri.

He added that they had bought Moyo a cellphone so that she could communicate with them in their absence to report any problem concerning their child.

“We even went to an extent of buying Moyo a cellphone so that we could be able to call her to check on our baby or her alerting us on anything,” he said.

Thabiso said they engaged her as she had given them false impression of a loving and caring woman.

She said when they discovered that Moyo had her own child, they employed her as that gave them confidence that she would take equally good care of theirs.

“My heart still bleeds because of what Violet did to us. She killed our baby in a very brutal manner despite the fact that we treated her like our own sister and there’s not even a single day that we abused her. We couldn’t understand why she did that considering that she was a very quiet girl who showed respect,” said Thabiso.

The couple, which is nursing a one-and-half year-old baby girl, now has reservations about employing a maid again.

“We learnt the hard way and we’re now not even sure whether we will be able to employ another maid to look after our baby girl,” said Phiri.

Moyo was told by a Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha that she was “cruel” as she was convicted of murder with actual intent.

“You killed the innocent infant in a very cruel and brutal manner. Indeed stories of domestic workers committing all sorts of crimes against their employers’ children are always in the newspapers, but sadly despite those media reports, the perpetrators seem undeterred. Time has come for such people to be dealt with in a harsh and adequate manner,” said Justice Kamocha.

The judge said the maid had admitted, during the trial, that she “suffocated an innocent infant by wrapping him in a heavy blanket and stuffing him in a linen drawer with limited air circulation like a parcel.”

“Despite the baby’s distressed cry, you chose to ignore him and went to the lounge to watch a television movie, which is quite clear that you really wanted to kill him. You’re accordingly found guilty of murder with actual intent,” added the judge.

He said although Moyo was genuinely contrite for her actions, the crime she committed deserved a lengthy prison term.
Moyo was on February 1, 2013, left in custody of Ethan by the child’s parents.

Shortly after 7AM, she fed the baby porridge, then went to the bedroom and put him to sleep. After about five hours, the baby woke up and started crying and Moyo tried to calm him but her efforts were in vain.

Incensed by the baby’s cries, Moyo wrapped the infant in a blanket and put him in a linen drawer at the head of a bed and closed it, leaving the baby to suffocate.

She then went to the lounge, switched on the television and started watching movies. After about three hours, Moyo went back to check on the baby and found him dead. She then lied to neighbours that the baby had fallen off the bed.