Tinotenda Hove – A 23-year-old woman from Binga District has been acquitted of murder by the High Court following the death of her six-year-old daughter, who was living with a disability.

The ruling was made by Justice Evangelista Kabasa, who was sitting on circuit in Hwange. The court found that Melody Mwiinde could not be held criminally liable.

In her judgment, Justice Kabasa accepted the defence of compulsion, noting that the State had not proven criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt.

“The State had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused acted with free will or criminal intent, a key requirement for a murder conviction. The accused is acquitted,” she said.

Mwiinde had been facing a murder charge after the death of her daughter, Precious, on 23 April 2025.

According to prosecutor Martha Cheda, the child died at Sango Conservancy near the family fields in Chief Siabuwa, Binga.

After the incident, Mwiinde initially told her grandfather that the child had died in the bush. She later informed relatives and led them to where the body had been placed in a field hut.

Police recovered a copper cable sheath believed to have been used in the incident, and a post-mortem confirmed the cause of death.
In her defence, Mwiinde told the court she had acted under threats to her life.

Her legal team argued that she believed the threats would be carried out and that she acted out of fear. The court accepted this explanation and ruled that she had acted under immediate danger.