A Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) student has been sentenced to six months in prison for baby-dumping.
Tinevimbo Zhou (20), of Village Mupanduki, Chief Masunda area in Zvishavane, dumped her two-day-old baby boy in a plastic bag by the roadside in Chirere area in Zvishavane in December 2020.
The baby was however picked up alive by school children who took it to the Social Welfare department at Zvishavane District Hospital where it is well and being looked after.
Zhou pleaded guilty to one count of abandoning an infant in conditions or in circumstances that may cause death from exposure when she appeared before Zvishavane magistrate Archie Wochiunga.
She told the magistrate that she decided to dump her baby after spending two days with it because she didn’t know what to do with it since she is still at university.
The magistrate sentenced Zhou to six months in prison before suspending three months on condition of good behaviour.
The other three months were suspended on condition she performs 105 hours of community service at Chigwiku Clinics in Zvishavane.