AN incarcerated South African woman, Isaura Masinga, who was suspected of swallowing cocaine in a bid to smuggle it into the country, yesterday appeared at the Harare Magistrates’ Court charged with defeating the course of justice
BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE
Masinga (40), who was initially being charged with possessing cocaine, has been in remand prison for more than a month.
She appeared before magistrate, Josephine Sande.
In an embarrassing situation, the State abandoned the initial charge after failing to recover the suspected drug from her stomach, which had been earlier detected by government hospital scans.
A second scan was conducted and revealed that there were no foreign objects in her body. This prompted the State to request the court for a longer remand, with the hope of recovering the drug.
The State had also asked the court to allow prison officials to give Masinga solid foods hoping she would excrete the drug, but the exercise turned futile.
The State is now arguing that Masinga lied that she was pregnant in a bid to evade a CIT scan, which is internationally banned from being used out on pregnant women.
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But, in her defence, Masinga said she thought she was pregnant after she missed her periods.
State witness, Isaac Taungwena, who is the arresting officer, told the court that he arrested Masinga after receiving information from one of their reliable sources in Brazil.
Taungwena further told court that he searched Masinga, but did not get anything.
“I searched Masinga, but nothing was recovered. We then took her to Carestream Ultrasound for a scan, whose results revealed and confirmed the presence of ingested body packs,” Taungwena said.
Masinga was remanded to tomorrow for trial continuation.
Peter Kachirika prosecuted for the State.
