A 28-YEAR-OLD woman of Chibobya Township in Katete has been sentenced to one-year imprisonment for sleeping over her one-month-old baby after a drinking spree with her boyfriend.
Grace Banda was charged with murd£r, which was later reduced to mansl@ughter, an offence she admitted.
She was convicted of unlawfully causing the d£ath of her daughter, Faith Banda, on August 30, 2024.
Chipata High Court Judge Mercy Makubalo heard that on the material day, around 13:00 hours, Banda received a phone call from her boyfriend, Samson Zulu, who invited her for a drink-up.
The accused carried Faith, alongside her other three-year-old child, and met Mr Zulu at a bar. She later returned home around 18:00 hours with her lover and the children.
At bedtime, the accused, her lover and the two children shared a bed, but while in deep sleep, Banda slept over Faith.
Banda was later awoken by her boyfriend around 21:00 hours to breastfeed the child, who was unresponsive.
In mitigation, Banda regretted her actions and pleaded for leniency before being sentenced by the judge, who said the incident should remind the convict about her fatal negligence.
-Zambia Daily Mail