The Sunday Mail
Yvonne Mutava
A 25-year-old Harare woman was arrested in early December for burning her four-year-old nephew with a gas stove.
Selena Sharara pleaded guilty to child abuse when she appeared before Mbare magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanja last week.
She will be tried in January 2017.
According to court records, Sharara lives in Harare’s Budiriro suburb with her married elder sister.
On December 9, 2016; her sister’s four-year-old son allegedly took some money from his mother without permission.
Sharara, it is alleged, then accused the sister of being too soft on him, switched the gas stove on and burnt the toddler’s fingers.
Blisters immediately developed.
The boy was treated at Harare Central Hospital while his mother reported the matter to police, leading to Sharara’s arrest.
Sharara told the court, “I want to ask for forgiveness from the minor’s parents.
‘‘I had no intention of hurting him as I only wanted to scare him.” Prosecutor Mr Tafara Chirambira advocated for a stiff penalty, “The complainant is a minor who could not defend himself, and the injuries are evidentially visible. The accused had no right whatsoever to act in such a manner.”
