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Working parents are facing a huge, relatively new problem caused by the women with whom they entrust the safety of their minor children.
Because they work fulltime somewhere, they cannot be at home with their children always, so they hire housemaids.  But a problem has emerged of some maids who brutalise the young children, taking advantage of the tots’ natural silence, vulnerability and the fact that they are often left alone at home.

We carried a story yesterday of a callous maid, Violet Moyo, 22, who killed a 10 month-old baby boy, Ethan Muthabisi Phiri by wrapping him in a blanket and locking him up in a drawer.  High Court judge, Justice Lawrence Kamocha sentenced Moyo to 22 years in jail for murder with actual intent. Also yesterday, we carried a front page story of a Silobela maid who assaulted a 10-month-old baby boy until he bled from the nose. Vimbai Machokoto pleaded guilty to child abuse and will be sentenced on March 3.

Any parent will not accept his or her child being disciplined, much less brutalised by someone else.  Therefore, we find it most sickening and angering that the women we trust so much that we leave them with our children are becoming their worst tormenters, murderers in Moyo’s case.

“You killed the innocent infant in a very cruel and brutal manner,” Justice Kamocha told Moyo. “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.  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.”

Ethan is gone forever, which is regrettable but we are consoled by the fact that Justice Kamocha noted in his ruling that indeed, we have a new, big problem of maids ill-treating children and that those convicted of the crime must face a hefty penalty. Twenty-two years in jail is a just punishment for Moyo.

Machokoto will have hers next week. We argue that she deserves a lengthy jail term as well. This way, the courts will send a strong message to possessed maids out there that the civilised Zimbabwean society detests abuse of its children.

We take abuse of children by minders as an urgent matter that must be handled as seriously as our courts handle spousal or partner abuse and rape. The rampancy of this abuse coupled with the innocence and helplessness of the young victims must awaken us to the enormity of the threat and the need for Zimbabwe to come up with a specific law to deal with it.

The Domestic Violence Act of 2007 was enacted, largely, to deal with abuse of women by their husbands and partners. We remember, too, that parliament toughened our stocktheft law in the early 2000s as it was felt that the rising incidents of cattle rustling posed a genuine threat to the success of the land reform programme. These are only two examples of cases where the government came up with specific laws to tackle an emerging crime.

We are deeply concerned about maids abusing children and wonder if it is impossible for this problem to be confronted the same way we faced domestic violence and stocktheft.

That law needs to acknowledge the breach of trust that child minders commit, which increases culpability.  Already, the law is harsher on a person who abuses a child who is in his custody than he who violates a passerby. The same must apply to maids who are paid to look after the kids but end up abusing them.

In addition to a legal response, we encourage parents to understand that the primary responsibility of looking after their children is theirs. Therefore, they need to be always vigilant.  They can make unannounced visits back home so the maids find their bosses’ movements unpredictable. If a maid knows that you leave home at 7am and return at 5pm, they would know they have the baby to themselves in-between, but if you can show up unexpectedly at 7.30am, chances are that she might be more disciplined.

Parents must speak to their children more often and not unnecessarily harass them, particularly in the presence of maids. This can make the child freer to interact with his or her parents and can actually report any ill-treatment he or she suffered at the hands of a minder.

A parent can also quietly observe the body language between the maid and the minor; if it is uneasy; straight away suspect a bigger problem in your absence.

Machokoto’s employer, Gertrude Mugore urged parents to wisely choose whoever they leave with their children. It is also worthwhile to invest in cameras to be placed at strategic points in and around your home to capture images, or voice recorders, which must be cheaper, to pick sound.  Download them everyday on returning from work and see if your child is safe in your absence.