AN EPWORTH teenage girl facing theft allegations together with her accomplice was denied bail by the Harare Magistrates’ Courts after her mother refused to accommodate her if granted pre-trail freedom.
Mary Murwisi, 18, and Robson Gandashaya, 25, appeared before Harare magistrate Sharon Rakafa and were remanded in custody until December 15 after they were denied bail.
Prosecutor Monalisa Magwenzi opposed bail by arguing that if convicted the two are likely to be given custodial sentences.
Magwenzi also argued that Murwisi and Gandashaya would abscond trial since they were of no fixed abode.
The State called the investigating officer to give evidence on the duo’s possibility of fleeing from justice.
The investigating officer told the court that at the time of arresting Murwisi, she did not provide a home address after stating that she was a vagabond since she wanted to drink and party without any restrictions.
In response to the investigating officer’s testimony, a seemingly agitated and fidgeting Murwisi, told the court that if granted bail, she would go and stay with her mother in Epworth.
Magistrate Rakafa called Murwisi’s mother to the stand to testify if she would ensure her daughter would return to court if granted bail.
“I do not wish to take her (Murwisi) home with me, she is very problematic and I do not want you court people to come and start questioning me about her whereabouts’’
“She ran away from home and I have no guarantee that she will not do it again. I just want everything to end here at court, take her where you must,” the mother told the magistrate.
This prompted magistrate Rakafa to deny Murwisi and Gandashaya bail after it was established that the duo was of no fixed abode.
This was after Gandashaya’s landlord told the police that they had not seen him in a while and he had since defaulted on his rentals.
Circumstances around the case are that, Murwisi and Gandashaya on November 26 this year allegedly broke into Tichaona Kanengoni’s shop when he had left and gone home.
The pair stole a gas tank, some items worth $50 770 and US$100 cash.
Kanengoni was informed of the break-in the following day and conducted a search until he found Murwisi selling a gas tank stolen from his shop.
After questioning her, Murwisi confessed and led Kanengoni to Gandashaya whom she implicated as her accomplice.
Dionne Kanyowa
STAFF WRITER