MUTARE: A local man who forced his two year old niece to eat own faeces as a punishment for soiling her pants appeared before a local magistrate facing charges of Ill-treating or neglecting a child.
Takesure Sithole, 25, of Gimbok in Dangamvura appeared before magistrate Sekai Chiwundura and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He was remanded in custody to a later date for trial.
Asked why he committed such an offence, Sithole said: “My sister and my wife left this minor in my custody when they went to plant tobacco. I refused but she forced me and later on I succumbed to her pressure. I did not commit the said offence”.
Prosecutors told the court that in the period between mid-October 2017 to November 30 2017, and on several occasions in Dangamvura, Sithole locked the minor in the house the whole day while he was away.
When he returned, Sithole allegedly forced her to eat her faeces whenever she messed herself. He also reportedly assaulted her and starved her.
The matter was discovered by neighbours who alerted the minor`s other relative who later reported the matter to police leading to Sithole’s arrest.
