In Zimbabwe, a man from Ntabazinduna reportedly assaulted his three-year-old daughter to death for wetting herself last year in April.

The man reportedly dug a grave inside one of the huts in his homestead and buried her.

The incident was only discovered more than a year later and police have exhumed the remains of the child for postmortem.

Matabeleland North provincial police spokesperson Inspector Glory Banda confirmed the incident.

Happiness Ncube, 27, has been arrested   for the murder of the child and another man, Ndaba Dube aged 52 has also been nabbed for his role in the concealment of the crime.

“Police in Mbembesi have arrested two men linked to the murder of three-year-old Sheamy Khanyisile Sibanda sometime in April last year. This was after a report of suspected murder was received from the informant, Ntombizandile Sibanda (mother to the child) to the effect that Ncube, the stepfather, fatally assalted her,” he said.

Circumstances leading to the incident are that sometime in April 2020, Sibanda who was staying with Ncube at Ntabazinduna New Stands was preparing breakfast outside the house while the child was seated inside.

The three-year-old girl reportedly wet herself and this did not go down well with Ncube who took a rubber sandal and began to assault her several times on her head.

Sibanda rushed in and restrained her husband from further assaulting the deceased.

It is reported that the following day, she noticed that her daughter was showing signs of pain but did not bother to take her to the clinic.

The next day at around 7am, she noticed that her daughter was having difficulties in breathing and she decided to prepare porridge for her before taking her to the clinic.

Ncube told his wife not to reveal the matter to anyone before leaving for Fort Rixon after locking the body inside the hut.

While there, they informed a relative, Dube who together with Ncube went back to Ntabazinduna leaving Sibanda behind.

They returned to Fort Rixon on the same day in the evening before Sibanda quizzed them on how they had handled the matter to which she was told that they had buried the body inside “maTshuma’s hut”, Sunday News reports.

After a year Sibanda who could no longer hold on to the secret, sent an audio via WhatsApp to her father, Kenny Sibanda stating what had transpired.

Her father advised her to make a police report leading to Ncube and Dube’s arrest on 15 August 2021