A MAN took revenge on a lover who allegedly infected him with HIV by robbing her of her life-saving anti-retroviral drugs.
Fanuel Sibanda, 23, of Lincoln Road, Hillside, was jailed for 18 months on Thursday after he was convicted on a charge of robbery.
In mitigation, the dad-of-one told Bulawayo magistrate Charity Maphosa: “I wanted to fix her because she had infected me with HIV.
“I didn’t intend to commit the offence, but I was overwhelmed by an evil spirit.”
Sibanda will serve nine months in prison after half his sentence was suspended for five years.
Prosecuting, Tinashe Dzipe told the court that in November last year, Sibanda, who moves around selling clothes, approached the woman at her workplace and promised to get her a new job as a cook with his employers.
Later that day, the court heard, the pair – who were known to each other – travelled to Kensington, about eight miles south of Bulawayo, where she was to be introduced to Sibanda’s employers.
But after alighting from a bus, the court heard, Sibanda produced a knife, grabbed the woman and forced her to give up her belongings which included a mobile phone, a jersey, R35 and two bottles of life-saving antiretroviral drugs.
Sibanda was later arrested after the woman filed a police report. None of the stolen items were recovered.