A cheating wife who fell pregnant while having an adulterous affair has been arrested for strangling her newborn baby.
The woman allegedly killed the baby to hide the evidence of her infidelity from her husband, who is based in South Africa.
The Chronicle reports that Trasia Mathe could not resist temptation and started an illicit affair while her husband was away on a long trip. During this adulterous affair with an unnamed man, Mathe fell pregnant for her lover.
Worried that the child’s birth would expose her cheating shenanigans, Mathe plotted to kill the baby at birth. She did not seek any medical attention during her pregnancy.
Mathe went into labour in December and gave birth to a baby girl. She then strangled the newborn and buried her in a shallow grave in her garden.
However, when her husband came home from South Africa a few days later, he realised that something was amiss due to her swollen breasts. Following the unsavoury discovery, the husband did not report the matter to the police, however.
Instead, the police learned of Mathe’s crime after an anonymous tip-off. The police arrested Mathe and charged her with infanticide.
She appeared before Tsholotsho resident magistrate Victor Mpofu who remanded her in custody.
Under Zimbabwean law, any woman who causes the death of her child within 6 months of giving birth is not charged with murder even if the killing appears to be intentional. Instead, she is charged with infanticide because the law deems that the woman’s balance of mind is disturbed by giving birth.
The maximum sentence for infanticide under the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform ) Act is 5 years in jail, although some people get community service.