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Cattle rustler boyfriend lands woman in trouble

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A Gokwe woman who tried to help her boyfriend accused of cattle rustling to evade arrest has been ordered to perform 175 hours of community service for obstructing the course of justice.

A Gokwe woman who tried to help her boyfriend accused of cattle rustling to evade arrest has been ordered to perform 175 hours of community service for obstructing the course of justice.

REPORT BY SILAS NKALA STAFF REPORTER

Sinikiwe Mbano (28) from Nhongo village in Gokwe was sentenced following her plea of guilty to the charge when she appeared in court on Tuesday.

Gokwe magistrate Shepard Mjanja sentenced her to 10 months in jail.

Five months were suspended for three years on condition of good behaviour.

The remaining five months were suspended on condition she performed 175 hours of community service at Gokwe Magistrates’ Court.

The court heard that on December 7, two Gokwe police officers received a tip-off that Mbano’s boyfriend, Shadreck Mogodi, who was wanted in connection with two counts of stocktheft, was at her home.

However, when the officers visited Mbano’s home in the company of the complainant Clemence Murombo, she denied knowing his whereabouts.

She even blocked police officers from entering her house.

But the police stormed the house and found Mogodi hiding, leading to the pair’s arrest.

In the stocktheft charges, the court heard that on November 25, Mogodi and his alleged accomplice, Godfrey Mbano (still at large), stole a villager’s beast from the grazing area and sold it to an abattoir at Gokwe business centre.

On November 30, Mogodi and Mbano again stole another beast belonging to Nicholas Meraku of Murairwa village in Gokwe North and sold it to the same abattoir.

However, Meraku identified his beast at the abattoir on December 2 and reported the matter to the police, leading to Mogodi’s arrest after police investigations linked him to both cases.

Mogodi denied the stocktheft charges when he appeared before the same magistrate on Thursday and was remanded in custody to December 17 for continuation of trial.

The stolen beasts were valued at $1 200.