Girl, 14, Accused Of Kidnapping Toddler Acquitted After Court Rules She Was Mentally Ill

A 14-year-old girl who made headlines in February this year after she was accused of kidnapping a two-year-old child in Bulawayo, and after a kombi driver was arrested and jailed for having sexual intercourse with her, has been acquitted of kidnapping.

Bulawayo regional magistrate Patience Ururu ruled on Friday that the teenager, who cannot be named because she is a minor, lacked criminal intent and was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the incident.

She was represented by Simbarashe Innocent Madzivire of Mashayamombe Law Firm.

The court heard that the girl’s mental health had deteriorated following her father’s death.

Her mother told the court that she had only informed her daughter of her father’s death a week after his burial.

“I was not formally married to her father. I only learnt of his death a week after he had been buried and I told the accused,” her mother told the court.

“After that, she began suffering from nightmares. She developed mental health challenges and has not been mentally stable since.”

Madzivire submitted that two psychiatric experts found the teenager was mentally unwell and unable to understand the nature or wrongfulness of her conduct at the time of the alleged offence.

He argued that she had not intended to kidnap the child and genuinely believed she was helping after finding her sitting unattended in a shopping centre with no guardian present.

Delivering judgment, Ms Ururu returned a special verdict of not guilty. She said psychiatric reports presented to the court established that the accused was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression when the incident occurred.

“Because of her mental condition and immaturity, she could not understand the gravity of her conduct or fully appreciate that her actions were wrongful,” the magistrate ruled.

The court ordered that the juvenile be placed at Luveve Training School for Girls for rehabilitation.

The ruling brings to a close a case that attracted widespread public attention in February after the toddler went missing from her mother’s workplace and was later found safe at a flat in Bulawayo’s central business district.

Prosecutor Concilia Ncube told the court that on 17 February 2026, the child’s mother, Nesisa Mpofu, 24, was serving customers at her workplace in the Meikles Building while the toddler played near her cubicle.

“The accused allegedly took advantage of the congestion in the shopping complex and carried away the child unnoticed,” said Ncube. “Mpofu later realised that her daughter was missing and searched the premises before reporting the matter to the police.”

She said detectives from the Bulawayo Homicide section launched an urgent investigation, which led to the child being recovered from a flat in the city centre and the accused being arrested.

The court heard that the teenager was later referred to Ingutsheni Central Hospital for psychiatric evaluation.

The court also heard evidence concerning Godwell Mumba, a kombi driver the accused had been living with.

Mumba is currently serving a three-year prison sentence after being convicted of having sexual intercourse with a minor.