Officials from Gauteng Emergency Medical Services (GEMS), police officers and detectives from Edenvale SAPS brought traffic to a standstill while attending to what was thought to be the body of an abandoned baby in Eastleigh.
After investigation by police and health officials, it was later established that the discovery was the carcass of a chicken.
On February 13 the NEWS received information from the Edenvale Community Police Forum (ECPF) of a partially decomposed body which was found along Plantation Road.
The ECPF was informed of the body by a concerned community member.
No police vehicles were present when the NEWS arrived at the location. Community members continued with their daily routines.
Upon arrival, police secured the area with cones and tape blocking one lane of the road.
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“The “body” was wrapped in plastic and a cardboard box and placed in a rubbish bin. Everyone initially thought there was a dead animal near the premises. By February 13 the smell was worse and we thought it was a dog or a cat,” Marilyn Eggelaar from The Pie Factory in Eastleigh told the NEWS before the police and other authorities arrived at the scene.
“We opened the plastic and saw what appeared to be a baby. It looked like human bones,” said Eggelaar.
While still waiting for authorities to arrive, another employee at The Pie Factory, Ursula Fegen, said that she noticed the bad smell and told Eggelaar.
“The smell was terrible, but I was not scared, so I went to have a look,” said Fegen.
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After investigations by the GEMS official and a police detective wearing forensic personal protective gear, the finding was identified as the carcass of a chicken.
“The body was a chicken,” said Edenvale SAPS station commander Col Sudesh Sookraj.
Journalists from the NEWS were invited onto the scene to see the carcass and to take photographs of it.
Eggelaar has since told the NEWS she remains convinced that it was the body of an abandoned dead baby.
“We question the findings of the police and health officials.”
She told the NEWS a doctor who was inside the shop had told her that the smell resembled that of decomposing human flesh.
