Zimbabwe: Woman Kills Newborn Baby To Destroy Cheating Evidence

A cheating wife who also fell pregnant while having an adulterous affair has been arrested for strangling her newborn baby. The woman allegedly killed the baby to hide the evidence of her infidelity from her husband, who is based in South Africa.The media reports that Trasia Mathe could not resist temptation and started an

illicit affair while her husband was away on a long trip. During this adulterous affair with an unnamed man, Mathe fell pregnant for her lover. Worried that the child’s birth would expose her cheating shenanigans, Mathe plotted to kill the baby at birth. She did not seek any medical attention during her pregnancy. Mathe went

into labour in December and gave birth to a baby girl. She then strangled the newborn and also buried her in a shallow grave in her garden. However, when her husband came home from South Africa a few days later, he realised that something was amiss due to her swollen breasts. Following the unsavoury discovery, the

husband did not also report the matter to the police, however. Instead, the police learned of Mathe’s crime after an anonymous tip-off. The police arrested Mathe and charged her with infanticide. She appeared before Tsholotsho resident magistrate Victor Mpofu who remanded her in custody. Under Zimbabwean law, any

woman who causes the death of her child within 6 months of giving birth is not charged with murder even if the killing appears to be intentional. Instead, she is charged with infanticide because the law deems that the woman’s balance of mind is disturbed by giving birth. The maximum sentence for infanticide under the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform ) Act is 5 years in jail, although some people get community service.