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Tanaka Mrewa, Court Reporter
A BULAWAYO teenager who strangled her baby at birth has pleaded with a court to be given a community service sentence.

The court heard that after killing her baby, Linda Ncube (18) of Gwabalanda suburb covered it with a blanket and placed it in a bucket that she put away at the back of their house.

Her aunt who wanted to use the bucket discovered that she had killed the new born baby.

Ncube pleaded guilty to an infanticide charge.

Western Commonage magistrate Mr Lungile Ncube remanded her in custody to next Monday for sentencing.

“Why did you do such a thing? Were you expecting no one else to use that bucket or did you think no one will find out what you had done?” asked the magistrate.

Ncube said she killed the baby because she had no means of raising it.

“The father of the baby denied responsibility. I don’t work Your Worship and there is no way that I could’ve taken care of the baby. I didn’t even have preparation. I had no option. I knew the baby would be found because the bucket I used is the one we use for laundry,” she said.

Prosecuting, Mr Mufaro Mageza said on Monday, Ncube’s aunt, Ms Sithabile Ndlovu, noticed that the teenager was no longer pregnant and asked her what had happened to her baby.

“Accused gave birth to a baby girl and strangled it. She covered it in a blanket and placed it in a bucket. She put the bucket away at the back of the house. She took two stones and placed them on top of the bucket,” said Mr Mageza.

“The matter came to light when the complainant wanted to use the bucket. She found the baby in the bucket. Accused was not at home at the time so complainant called accused’s mother who was at work in Magwegwe suburb. Accused’s mother later got a call from her sister who stays in Lobengula saying accused person was at her house. Accused person was taken to the police in connection with the incident.”

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