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Melody Baya Court Reporter
A HERBALIST from Bulawayo has been sentenced to perform 315 hours of community service by a magistrate for giving a woman herbs to terminate her two months old pregnancy. Theresa Kundika, 45, of Pumula suburb, pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful termination of pregnancy before Western Commonage magistrate Themba Chimiso.

She had pleaded not guilty in her first court appearance on April 19. Kundika had been jointly charged with her accomplice Gugulethu Ndlovu, 18, whose pregnancy was unlawfully terminated.

Ndlovu pleaded guilty and was also sentenced to perform 315 hours of unpaid labour. Kundika told the court that she was a herbalist and had only given Ndlovu a potion to help her avoid a miscarriage.

“Ndlovu came to my house and asked me to assist her with a herbal potion that would prevent her from having complications or a miscarriage,” she said. Prosecuting, Mufaro Mageza said sometime in February this year, Ndlovu approached Kundika seeking to carry out an abortion.

The court heard Ndlovu was given a traditional concoction. The abortion bid was unsuccessful and Ndlovu returned to Kundika the following month and the second dose resulted in the successful termination of the pregnancy.

“Ndlovu wrapped the foetus with her waist cloth and dumped it in a sewer at her house. ‘‘The foetus caused the sewer to burst and Ndlovu was arrested after the waist cloth wrapping the foetus was positively identified as belonging to her,” said Mageza.

Ndlovu, in her defence, said she resorted to abortion after her boyfriend deserted her.