A Bulawayo court has exonerated a 14-year-old girl of kidnapping charges after she allegedly abducted a two-year-old toddler from a crowded city centre shopping complex earlier this year.
The court heard that two medical experts found that she was mentally unwell and incapable of appreciating the wrongfulness of her actions at the time of the incident.
Bulawayo magistrate Patience Ururu returned a special verdict, finding the teenager (name withheld) not guilty.
According to the court, doctors concluded that she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression when the offence was allegedly committed.
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The ruling concludes a case that gripped Bulawayo in February after the toddler disappeared from her mother’s workplace before she was found safe two days later during a police operation at a city flat.
Prosecutor, Constance Ncube, told the court that on February 17, 2026, the child’s mother, Nesisa Mpofu (24), was serving customers at her workplace at Meikles Building while the toddler played near her cubicle.
The State alleged that the teen took advantage of the congestion in the shopping complex and carried away the child unnoticed.
Mpofu later realised her daughter was missing and searched around the complex before reporting the matter to the police.
Investigations led to the teen’s arrest on February 19, resulting in the recovery of the toddler from a flat in Bulawayo’s central business district.
The court heard that the teen was subsequently referred to Ingutsheni Central Hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
According to the psychiatric reports presented to the court, the teenager suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression and, because of her mental condition and immaturity, could not understand the gravity of her conduct or fully appreciate that her actions were wrongful.
Ncube consequently urged the court to return a special verdict and recommended that the juvenile be placed in the custody of Luveve Training School for Girls for rehabilitation.
Representing the teenager, Simbarashe Madzivire of Mashayamombe Law Firm, argued that his client had no intention of abducting the child.
Madzivire said the teenager believed the toddler had been left unattended and thought she was assisting a child who appeared to have no guardian.
“Your Worship, my client was of the view at moment she took the child that she had no guardian as the child was roaming around unattended. In actual fact, she thought she was helping the child who had no one attending to her. There was no deprivation in her mind as there was no lawful guardian with the child at that time,” Madzivire submitted.
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