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A 25-year-old Masvingo woman claimed she was offered a lift to hospital by four unknown people over the weekend who then allegedly drugged her after she had gone into labour along the Ngundu-Tanganda highway before they vanished with the twin babies she had delivered.

Ms Rejoice Mahachi of Maruveke Village in Nyajena communal lands was on her way to Chiredzi General Hospital when she was allegedly offered transport by three unknown women and a man. She later gave birth in their vehicle.

Ms Mahachi was forced to drop off a kombi that had earlier on offered her a lift to Chiredzi after the crew realised that she was experiencing labour pains and could give birth in their vehicle. Masvingo police spokesperson Inspector Peter Zhanero yesterday confirmed the incident and said the woman was discovered by security guards in a bushy area near a telecommunications complex, several kilometres from the Ngundu-Tanganda Road.

Inspector Zhanero said they had since launched a manhunt for the unknown suspects saying police would charge them with kidnapping.

“We are still investigating the case after Rejoice Mahachi made a report that she had been drugged by four unidentified people who took away her newly born twin babies and dumped her in a bush,” said Inspector Zhanero.

It is believed that on the day in question, Ms Mahachi left her home in Nyajena communal lands intending to go to Chiredzi General Hospital to give birth since she was in labour. She allegedly arrived at Renco Mine turn-off along the Ngundu-Tanganda highway and boarded a kombi that was heading to Chiredzi.

After travelling for a short distance, the kombi crew allegedly stopped and ordered Ms Mahachi out claiming that her condition was now a risk as she could give birth anytime.

Ms Mahachi was allegedly dropped at Chizhou bus stop where after a few minutes she was offered a lift by a black unknown vehicle which had three female passengers and a male driver. She allegedly started experiencing labour pains and the three women helped her to deliver twin babies.

After successfully giving birth the four allegedly forced her to drink an unknown liquid which she did resulting in her falling unconscious. Ms Mahachi allegedly regained consciousness and discovered that she was in a bush near a gravel road in an area she failed to identify. It is further alleged that the unknown suspects who had allegedly taken away her children returned and demanded her cellphone but she told them that she did not have one.

They then drove away and disappeared. The woman allegedly managed to walk to a nearby telecommunications facility where she narrated her ordeal to security guards who were manning the facility. The guards helped the woman to make a report at Triangle Police Station.

Grammy-winning singer Lauryn Hill was sentenced Monday to three months in prison and an additional three months in home confinement for failing to pay taxes on about $1 million in earnings.

Hill, a 37-year-old South Orange resident, pleaded guilty last year in the case.

During a forceful statement to the judge Monday, Hill explained she had always meant to eventually pay the taxes but was unable to during a period of time when she dropped out of the music business, echoing a defense she wrote last year in a long post online.

“I needed to be able to earn so I could pay my taxes, without compromising the health and welfare of my children, and I was being denied that,” Hill said Monday, without explaining what exactly triggered her actions.

Before the sentencing, her attorney had said Hill had paid more than $970,000 to satisfy the state and federal tax liabilities.

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Hill had faced a maximum sentence of one year each on three counts. Her attorney had sought probation.

It’s not clear when or where she’d report to prison.

Hill got her start with The Fugees and began her solo career in 1998 with the critically acclaimed album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.”

She then largely disappeared from public view to raise her six children, five of whom she had with Rohan Marley, the son of reggae singer Bob Marley.

At the time of her arrest last year, Hill wrote a criticism rejecting pop culture’s “climate of hostility, false entitlement, manipulation, racial prejudice, sexism and ageism.”

“Over-commercialization and its resulting restrictions and limitations can be very damaging and distorting to the inherent nature of the individual,” Hill wrote. “I did not deliberately abandon my fans, nor did I deliberately abandon any responsibilities, but I did however put my safety, health and freedom and the freedom, safety and health of my family first over all other material concerns! I also embraced my right to resist a system intentionally opposing my right to whole and integral survival.”

She also said she hadn’t paid taxes since she withdrew from society to guarantee her family’s safety but that she always intended to rectify the situation.