A 29-YEAR-OLD Dzivarasekwa woman, Gladys Tsvuura, is alleged to have suffocated her newborn twins using a plastic bag and blamed her traditional midwife for the babies’ death.
BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE
Tsvuura pleaded not guilty to concealment of birth charges when she appeared before magistrate Josephine Sande yesterday, but her averments were vehemently dismissed by State witness Shupikai Mbimbi, who accommodated her at her residence.
Mbimbi told the court that she heard the babies crying at around 5am and she left the house to call a traditional midwife to assist her since she had not been booked at a hospital.
“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 said.
“She was asked by the officers about her pregnancy, but she said she was still pregnant. The other officer then searched the house and opened an empty 20-litre bucket, where he saw two babies covered in a plastic bag.”
Mbimbi, however, exonerated the midwife, saying she only entered the room way after the police officers had already been in the room.
Sande postponed the matter to July 12 for trial continuation.
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Allegations are that on May 19 this year, Tsvuura, who was heavily pregnant, delivered twins in her rented cabin and tried to conceal the births 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 newborn babies cried, thereby raising suspicion from the landlord, who then called a traditional midwife to the scene, but Tsvuura denied ever delivering a baby.
The midwife and landlord then conducted a search in the house, leading to the discovery of the twins stuffed in a bucket. Peter Kachirika appeared for the State.
