HARARE: A Zimbabwean woman allegedly strangled her 6-year-old stepson to death and locked his 8-year-old sister in a bedroom that she tried to set on fire so that she could inherit her husband’s house. The husband, however, is very much alive.
The 24-year-old reportedly killed the child with her bare hands on Good Friday and hid his body in their house in Radcliff.
She also allegedly locked his sister in the bedroom after switching on a stove and covering it with a blanket, apparently hoping the blanket would catch fire and set the room alight.
The Chronicle reports that the suspect allegedly fled to Harare after making a false report to the police claiming that her stepson was missing.
There was a power cut soon after she left the house, derailing her plans.
She was arrested in Harare on Saturday where she had fled to and she was arraigned before Kwekwe magistrate Florence Nago facing a murder charge.
Magistrate Nago did not ask her to plead and remanded her in custody until April 17.
Court documents state that the stepmother strangled the boy to death “so that she would inherit the house belonging to his father since he was the only son”.
The father told the publication that he was away in Chakari when the cold-blooded killing was executed.
After the suspect’s arrest in the Zimbabwe capital, her husband managed to talk to her about what led her to commit the crime.
The boy’s body has been transported to Bulawayo where a post-mortem will be conducted.