On 15 November, the tally of people arrested for neglect – and the resulting death – of a seven-month-old baby has risen to three.
The grandmother of the baby, whose foot was gnawed off by rats, has been arrested by police, according to Captain Tsekiso Mofokeng.
The grandmother’s daughter (23) has had previous run-ins with the law with prior cases of child neglect. Due to this, her seven-month-old son and two-year-old daughter had been placed in the care of the grandmother. The grandmother was not supposed to give either of the children over to the mother.
The grandmother now faces charges of neglect, after the infant was found dead in a shack on 9 November.
Police arrested the baby’s mother at a tavern in the Randburg Central Business District on 12 November and the woman appeared in court on 14 November.
She was charged with child neglect and murder.
Her boyfriend (35) also appeared in court on charges of neglect. Both will appear in court again on 20 November.
