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George Maponga–Masvingo Bureau

A 22-year-old Masvingo man has been jailed for six months while his teenage girlfriend will perform community service after the two lovers put sleeping tablets into the girl’s mother’s food so that the pair could spend time together without her objecting or interfering.

Tinashe Mazvimba of Mucheke suburb and his 17-year-old girlfriend of the same suburb had each initially been slapped with nine months jail each after being convicted of assault.

First Magistrate Mr Farai Gwitima suspended three months of each sentence, leaving Mazvimba an effective six-month term.  

He went further with the teenager suspending her remaining six months on condition she performed 210 hours of community service at Mucheke clinic. The lovebirds had pleaded guilty to the offence.

Agreed facts are that on 25 March this year Mazvamba gave his girlfriend seven sleeping tablets so that she could put them in her mother’s food to make her fall asleep so that the girl could sneak out at night for them to have quality time.

The girl would prepare food with the tablets every evening and served the food to the entire family.

Her mother Esther Masarakufa would fall asleep together with other family members after eating the food.

Luck ran out for the lovebirds on April 3 this year when the girl’s mother came across mobile phone messages between the pair where they were talking about the sleeping tablets.

The girl’s mother reported the matter to the police leading to the pair’s arrest. Mr Godknows Mugondo appeared for the State.