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Crime Reporter

A 27-year-old Chinhoyi woman has been arrested for unlawful termination of pregnancy after she drank an unknown substance she was given by a herbalist, before giving birth to a dead foetus. After giving birth, the suspect, Mercy Villa then wrapped the foetus with a plastic bag and put it under the counter of a grocery shop where she resides at Village 4 Portlet Farm, Chinhoyi.

The offence was discovered and a report was made to the police leading to her arrest.

National police spokesperson Assistant commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident.

“Police in Chinhoyi are investigating a case of unlawful termination of pregnancy which occurred on October 22, 2021 at Village 4 Portlet Farm, Chinhoyi.

“Mercy Villa aged 27 gave birth to a dead foetus after drinking an unknown brown substance she was given by a herbalist, Esnath Karimatsinga aged 48 to terminate her pregnancy. Villa wrapped the foetus with a plastic bag and put it under the counter of a grocery shop where she resides,” he said.

Investigations on the case are still in progress.

Meanwhile, police are still looking for the 24-year-old woman who gave birth to a baby boy at her house last week before dumping the toddler at Budiriro Poly Clinic where she had been admitted.

The incident came after police were also investigating another case of baby dumping which occurred at Mbare Musika in Harare, on October 4 at around 3 pm, where an unknown woman boarded an Inter Africa bus before asking a fellow passenger aged 33 to keep her baby who was approximately two weeks old.

The woman did not return to take the baby leading to a police report being lodged. Police took the baby to Sally Mugabe Hospital for further management.

Police in Dzivarasekwa are also investigating a case of concealment of birth in which a foetus was found on top of litter at a dumping site in Tynwald South, Harare.

No arrests were made.

In a related incident, police in Harare are investigating circumstances surrounding a case of infanticide in which a body of a male foetus was found dumped in a drain and wrapped in a sack at Block 1 Matapi Flats, Mbare.