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Court Reporter
A nine-year-old boy lost two fingers after his stepmother allegedly burnt his hand with a candle for eating sadza without her permission. The boy (name withheld), was admitted at Harare Central Hospital after sustaining a deep wound on the hand.

The stepmother, Mary Murimirwa (33), appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Josephine Sande jointly charged with her husband, David Kamwendo (34).

The couple from Retreat Farm in Waterfalls, Harare, is facing charges of ill-treatment of a minor.

They were remanded in custody to August 10 after Ms Sande ruled that the couple would interfere with the witness who is their child. Kamwendo pleaded with Ms Sande to be released on bail, saying they left three other children aged 13, 10 and three alone at home.

“The child touched a hot brick on the fireplace and I didn’t take him to hospital due to lack of money,” said Kamwendo. “A clinic is an hour walk from our home and because I am not employed I didn’t have money to pay for his treatment.”

Murimirwa insisted that she did not burn the boy.

“I would dress his wound daily, but I had no idea that the wound was serious,” she said. “We didn’t manage to get him to hospital because the father is jobless.”

Ms Sande advised the couple that the State would arrange with the Department of Social Welfare about the welfare of their children while they were in custody.

Prosecutor Mr Sebastian Mutizirwa alleged that sometime in June this year, Murimirwa burnt the child on his right hand with a candle for eating sadza without her permis- sion.

She later lied to her husband that the minor had touched a hot brick on the fireplace, it is alleged. On Tuesday this week, the police received a report from the couple’s church mate that they were ill-treating a child.

The child’s ring and middle fingers were amputated and he has a deep wound on the hand.