Zimbabwean magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe decided to wholly suspend the one-year prison sentence of a 21-year-old woman who claimed that she, “flew naked in a winnowing basket” to the home of a relative whom she had been enlisted to kill. She was also ordered to seek help to recover from a spell that had supposedly been cast on her by her father-in-law.
When Regina Sveto was found naked outside the home of her brother-in-law, Tobias Zemba, she claimed that she had traveled naked in a winnowing basket to kill him at the bidding of her father-in-law.
Tobias Zemba and his brother Collin (Sveto’s husband) both pleaded for Magistrate Guvamombe to show mercy in sentencing, while Chief Jonathan Mangwende thought that the fine of one cow would be a suitable punishment. The prosecutor also suggested that the accused be treated with lenience.
Guvamombe explained his sentencing decision:
Judging from the evidence given to this court, the accused is also a victim who was being used by a relative. A custodial sentence will, therefore, result in a miscarriage of justice. Community service will expose the accused to ridicule from the public, while a fine will trivialize the crime. A wholly suspended prison term will bring justice in this case. In arriving at this sentence, I have also taken into account the stigma that, in my view, is additional punishment for the accused.
I, therefore, give you 12 months’ imprisonment wholly suspended for five years on condition that you will not commit a similar offense of which you will be committed to prison without trial.
