A Zimbabwean woman, 29, allegedly suffocated her new born twins in a plastic bag, placed them inside a 20 litre bucket of water, before accusing a traditional midwife of having killed them, reports say.
According to NewsDay, Gladys Tsvuura from Dzivaresekwa in western Harare, pleaded not guilty to concealment of birth charges when she appeared before magistrate Josephine Sande last week.
State witness Shupikai Mbimbi, told the court that Tsvuura gave birth to twins on May 19 while she was alone inside her rented cabin home.
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It was revealed that after she had given birth to the twins, she wrapped them with a plastic bag, placed them inside a 20 litre bucket of water and hid it in her house.
One of the babies, however, cried raising suspicion of the landlady Mbimbi, who then summoned a traditional midwife to her residence to assist her since she had not been booked at a hospital.
‘My babies did not cry’
“The midwife came, but she [Tsvuura] refused to open the door and I peeped through the door and I saw Tsvuura sitting on a 20-litre empty bucket. The midwife left and brought two police officers and that was when she opened the door,” Mbimbi was quoted as saying.
Tsvuura denied the charges, alleging that whoever was at the scene was the one who could tell the court what had transpired, a New Zimbabwe.com report said.
She was quoted saying: “My babies did not cry. I don’t know what the midwife did with them but I’m not the one who placed them in a bucket.”
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She claimed that she was in so much pain that she could not keep track of the event surrounding her on the day in question.
The babies were found already dead inside the bucket in which the accused was sitting on.
News24