A 43-year-old Mberengwa woman has been jailed for 10 years after a traditional tongue-incision procedure she performed on a one-year-six-month-old child resulted in the toddler’s death from severe bleeding.
Chipiwa Majasi of Village 3, Kuqutakurima, under Chief Mposi in Mberengwa, was convicted of culpable homicide by the High Court sitting at Gweru.
The court suspended two years of the sentence on condition of good behaviour, leaving Majasi to serve an effective eight years in prison.
The court heard that the child, Ruvarashe Mafikeni, died at Runyararo Complex, Vanguard, Mberengwa, on March 5, 2026.
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At about 7am that day, Ruvarashe’s mother invited Majasi to the family home to perform a traditional incision procedure intended to address the child’s speech problem.
Majasi used a razor blade to cut the lower membrane of the child’s tongue before leaving the home.
The child later fell asleep and was found without signs of life at about 2pm.
She was rushed to Mberengwa District Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
The death was reported to the police, leading to Majasi’s arrest.
A post-mortem examination established that Ruvarashe died from haemorrhagic shock caused by a lacerated sublingual artery and tongue injury.
The razor blade used during the procedure was recovered by police as an exhibit.
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