SELF-STYLED Chikomba prophetess Maud Dzvuke and her accomplice Jane Ruvinga have been sentenced to a five-year jail term each for drowning six children during an ill-fated baptism ceremony conducted in Mutorahuku stream under headman Mutengwa’s area in June this year.
Masvingo Mirror
The two were sentenced last week after regional magistrate Fadzai Mtombeni found them guilty of culpable homicide.
The court heard that Dzvuke, a self -styled prophet of the Johane Masowe Yechishanu Apostolic sect, was leading the baptism event when tragedy struck.
The pair was, however, spared an effective prison term when Mtombeni suspended the whole sentence on condition they perform community service at a nearby school in Sadza.
Prosecutor, Nicholas Mabvongodze told the court that on June 7, Dzvuke commandeered her four minor children to the stream for baptism and was joined by Ruvinga who also brought her two minor children for the same purpose.
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When they arrived at the stream, Dzvuke got into the water and baptised the children starting with her own.
During baptism, she submerged the children’s heads in the water, pressing their foreheads and pushing their heads into the water.
The children lost consciousness, leading to their death.