A WOMAN from Chirumhanzu allegedly killed her two-year-old son from a previous marriage to please her new husband and in-laws. Precious Hamandishe, 27, of Ritize Village, headman Chigegwe in Chirumhanzu, said after finding new love earlier this month, she was ordered to surrender her son, Tadiwa Mangoma, to her former husband if she entertained any thought of staying with George Runesu (Jnr) as her husband.
Hamandishe told Bulawayo High Court Judge, Justice Martin Makonese, sitting at the Gweru High Court yesterday, that after failing to take her son back to her former husband, she strangled him with a tree bark fibre.
She then went to her new husband and lied that she had returned the boy to her former husband, the court heard.
Hamandishe, who pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder, was remanded in custody to February 1 for sentencing.
In her defence, she said she wanted to please her new husband and his family who did not want to see her child.
“This was my third marriage and my new husband and his family ordered me to take my son back to his father if I was to stay at their homestead. At the same time my son had a heart problem and the nurses had told me that he was going to die. So I took it upon myself to kill him to save my new marriage,” Hamandishe said.
The state called six witnesses who testified that Hamandishe indeed killed her son.
Prosecutor, Mirirai Shumba told the court that sometime in January 2015, Hamandishe got married to Runesu.
He said she took her son with her to her new husband’s village.
“However, her in-laws were not comfortable with the child living with them. The in-laws advised the accused to surrender custody of the boy to her former husband,” said Shumba.
He said Hamandishe did as she was ordered and on January 7 attempted to take her son to her former husband but was unsuccessful.
Shumba said the woman took her child back to her new husband’s village.
“On the way back, she took her son to a certain spot and placed him on a rock. She proceeded to make some bark fibre and tied his neck with it and strangled him. The boy died and she left him there,” he said.
On January 18, the body was discovered and police were informed.
Investigations led to Hamandishe’s arrest.
“The police visited the scene and discovered the deceased body in a state of decomposition,” Shumba said.
Hamandishe told Bulawayo High Court Judge, Justice Martin Makonese, sitting at the Gweru High Court yesterday, that after failing to take her son back to her former husband, she strangled him with a tree bark fibre.
She then went to her new husband and lied that she had returned the boy to her former husband, the court heard.
Hamandishe, who pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder, was remanded in custody to February 1 for sentencing.
In her defence, she said she wanted to please her new husband and his family who did not want to see her child.
“This was my third marriage and my new husband and his family ordered me to take my son back to his father if I was to stay at their homestead. At the same time my son had a heart problem and the nurses had told me that he was going to die. So I took it upon myself to kill him to save my new marriage,” Hamandishe said.
The state called six witnesses who testified that Hamandishe indeed killed her son.
Prosecutor, Mirirai Shumba told the court that sometime in January 2015, Hamandishe got married to Runesu.
He said she took her son with her to her new husband’s village.
“However, her in-laws were not comfortable with the child living with them. The in-laws advised the accused to surrender custody of the boy to her former husband,” said Shumba.
He said Hamandishe did as she was ordered and on January 7 attempted to take her son to her former husband but was unsuccessful.
Shumba said the woman took her child back to her new husband’s village.
“On the way back, she took her son to a certain spot and placed him on a rock. She proceeded to make some bark fibre and tied his neck with it and strangled him. The boy died and she left him there,” he said.
On January 18, the body was discovered and police were informed.
Investigations led to Hamandishe’s arrest.
“The police visited the scene and discovered the deceased body in a state of decomposition,” Shumba said.
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