A 28-YEAR-OLD Epworth private school headmaster was yesterday sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment after being convicted of fondling an 11-year-old pupil.
BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE
Itai Johannes of Beacon, of Hope Academy, will, serve a 12-month effective jail term after magistrate, Victoria Mashamba suspended the other 12 months on condition of good behaviour.
The school head is said to have abused the minor on March 9 this year after he called her into his office to enquire about non-payment of fees.
The court heard while in his office, Johannes stood next to the minor and touched her right hand before telling her that her hand was smooth after which he went on to fondle her breasts and promised to take good care of her.
The minor revealed the abuse to her aunt, who in turn reported the matter to the police, leading to his arrest.
Meanwhile, a 29-year-old Dzivarasekwa woman appeared in court charged with concealment of birth after she allegedly delivered two babies and suffocated them in a plastic bag.
The accused, Gladys Tsvuura (29), was not asked to plead when she appeared before Harare magistrate Barbara Chimboza, who remanded her in custody to June 11and advised her to apply for bail at the High Court.
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It is the State’s case that on May 19 this year, Tsvuura, who was pregnant, allegedly delivered twins in her rented cabin, but tried to conceal the birth by placing them in a 20-litre empty bucket after wrapping them in a plastic bag.
The State alleges during the process of delivery one of the newly born babies cried, raising the landlord’s suspicion.
It is alleged the landlord then summoned a midwife to the scene and they both interviewed Tsvuura, but she denied having given birth.
It is alleged the midwife and landlord then conducted a search in the house leading to the discovery of the twins in the bucket and the matter was reported to the police, leading to her arrest.
