HARARE - An Epworth woman has been convicted for abandoning her newly-born baby by the roadside.
Christine Mafara, 24, was found guilty of “exposing an infant” when she appeared before Harare magistrate Tendai Mahwe.
He said Mafara had exposed the child to conditions detrimental to health.
Magistrate Mahwe stood down the case for sentencing, which will be in due course.
Mafara told the court that she had abandoned the child because she knew that her husband was not the father of the child.
“I did not know where the child’s father was because my husband was not responsible for the pregnancy,” she said.
“I have three other children and honestly don’t know what came over me to dump my baby.”
Prosecutor Farai Gatsi proved that on January 25 this year, Mafara gave birth to a baby boy.
She then took the baby and abandoned him at Tembwe Road, Epworth in Harare.
On February 1, Mafara visited a prophetess in Dzivaresekwa called Constance Masawi to inquire about the whereabouts of the baby she had abandoned.
Mafara confessed to the prophetess that she had abandoned the baby along the road in Epworth. The prophetess reported the matter to the police.
The silver lining was that the baby survived after it was discovered by a good Samaritan, who rushed him to Harare Hospital.