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Tendai Rupapa Senior Court Reporter
An 18-year-old Epworth woman strangled her two-year-old daughter using a necklace before setting the toddler’s body on fire in a bid to hide the offence.

Talent Kuvimba was not asked to plead to a murder charge when she appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Tilda Mazhande. She was remanded in custody to April 5 for routine remand.

The court advised her to apply for bail at the High Court since she is facing a Third Schedule offence.

The State, led by Ms Ropafadzo Botsh, alleged that on March 10, at around 10pm, Kuvimba allegedly fatally strangled her daughter using her necklace. After killing the baby, she reportedly left the necklace around the minor’s neck. In a bid to conceal the offence and make it appear to be an accident, Kuvimba allegedly left a burning candle on the bed where the lifeless body was lying. When the room caught fire, the deceased body was burnt beyond recognition.

It is the State’s case that Kuvimba later returned home and rushed to the police, where she misrepresented the circumstances surrounding the “accident”. However, a forensic postmortem revealed that death was as a result of strangulation. Also, the necklace which had sunk into the neck of the toddler was retrieved.