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Midlands Bureau

A Gweru woman who stole a baby from its mother outside Gweru Provincial Hospital has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for kidnapping by Gweru provincial magistrate, Ms Beaulity Dube.

Sakhile Tanyanyiwa (34) who is wife to former Police Commissioner Mekia Tanyanyiwa pleaded guilty to the charge.

The Magistrate suspended six months of the sentence and will serve effective 12 months.

It is the State case that on Friday last week, the infant’s mother was returning from Gweru Provincial Hospital after collecting her baby’s birth record. She was offered a lift by Sakhile, who was accompanied by two other people in a white Toyota Aqua, registration number AFW 6208.

They made a stop-over at 6247 South View, where Sakhile asked the mother to help a woman disembark from the vehicle.

As she did so, the car sped off towards the Gweru-Bulawayo highway with her baby inside.

The incident was promptly reported to the police.

Sakhile took the child home, claiming to her husband that she had given birth.

However, her husband doubted her story, especially after hearing news of a baby being snatched in Gweru.

Mekia took the baby to CID Gweru before Sakhile handed herself to the police.