Girls (7, 10) narrate baby killing ordeal

imes of Zambia by mitia on 6/17/13

By SYLVIA MWEETWA –
TWO girls aged seven and 10 years have narrated before a Kabwe High Court how a man of Chisamba District allegedly brutally murdered a two–year-old baby by throwing it to the ground and repeatedly stepping on it.
The seven-year-old told Judge Elita Mwikisa that on the fateful day, she was carrying the now deceased boy on her back when she met the accused who held her by her neck before turning the heat on the baby.
This is in a case in which Lawson Simemba, 34, is on October 4, last year alleged to have murdered Gift Mukosha and Gift Chibangwa, both aged two years.
In examination-in-chief, the girl told Judge Mwikisa that after holding the child’s neck Simemba later swung the baby in the air before throwing it to the ground.
She said when the baby fell to the ground, Simemba started stepping on the baby’s stomach forcing the intestines to come out.
She said after observing what had happened she reported the incidence to the elders.
The witness insisted in cross-examination by defence lawyer Bridget Pizo from Legal Aid, that it was the accused who killed the baby and that she was able to identify him.
Another girl aged 10, said she was in the company of other siblings and friends when she witnessed the ordeal.
She said they were coming from her grandmother’s place where they had been sent to collect sweet potatoes when they met the accused.
the juvenile narrated that she was shocked to see the accused grab the child by the neck and also hit the baby’s head using a hoe han