By Tendai Kamhungira
The family of an eight-year-old boy killed by electrocution after falling into a pit with exposed electrical cables reached a $15 000 settlement with the Zesa Holdings’ subsidiary Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) in a wrongful-death lawsuit.
High Court judge Jester Charewa granted the order.
The damages were for emotional shock and psychological trauma.
“It is ordered that the respondent shall pay to the applicant (Sinachinga) the total sum of $15 000 only together with interest at the prescribed rate from the rate of the summons to date of final and full payment,” Charewa said.
In the application, Sinachinga told the court that her son sustained severe burns and was rushed to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.
“He did not pass on immediately and languished in pain, experiencing renal failure in addition to severe burns until his death on the 30th of March 2012,” she said.
“The trauma I have suffered is unceasing and I constantly think about my son and what he would have become, had it not been for the actions of the respondent’s employees,” Sinachinga said, adding that she had to seek the services of a clinical psychologist, who diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I verily believe that the respondent’s blameworthiness is heightened by the fact that the live wires were exposed from January to March 2012 and the respondent only took measures to secure the wires after the fateful incident.
“I verily believe that I am entitled to the damages in the summons and declaration as amended, as the respondent should be held accountable for its conduct,” she said. Daily News