UPDATE: Woman arrested for abandoning newborn baby

THE woman who was arrested for child abandonment in Embo will appear in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court today. Members from the Pinetown Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit arrested the woman after much hard work.

The newborn baby was found hidden under a taxi seat parked at the rank at the Pavilion shopping Centre on Sunday, 4 December. According to KZN police spokesman, Capt Nqobile Gwala, the taxi driver dropped off his passengers at the Pavilion taxi rank.

“He parked his taxi and sat with other drivers waiting for his turn to load. Later on he went to his taxi and suddenly heard something which sounded like a crying baby.”

“He looked in the taxi but he spotted nothing unusual, but the noise persisted and he looked again under the backseat he saw something wrapped in a blanket. When he looked closer, he saw a young baby wrapped in a blanket with a handwritten note on top of it as well as medication,” explained Gwala. The police spokesman said the child was in a bad state, the eyes had swollen and the nappy had not been changed for hours.

The taxi driver, with the help of a Westville Hospital nurse, alerted the police and the child was immediately taken to hospital.

After the case docket had been opened at the Westville Police Station it was handed over to the Pinetown FCS Unit for investigation. Gwala said it was a hard case to crack as there were no witnesses and the note left with the child did not reveal much about the mother.

“From the medication left with the child, the detectives discovered that it was issued at St Mary’s Hospital in Mariannhill.”

“Further investigation at the hospital did not reveal much about the mother’s personal details, she had registered an incomplete residential address and did not leave her cellphone number.

“The only number the detective could find was that of her relatives in Kokstad.”

The relatives were contacted and according to them, the woman was still in hospital with the child which was prematurely born. They denied having her cellphone number and informed the investigators that they were expecting her with the child before Christmas.

Gwala said the detectives hit a wall.”They had nothing to go on except for a vague address which stated that she stayed close to Khabazela High School at Embo.

“It took painstaking investigation, lots of hard work, long hours and sheer brilliance from detectives in trying to locate the woman who was finally arrested in Embo,” she said.

The KwaZulu-Natal acting provincial commissioner, Major General Bheki, said he was grateful to everyone who assisted them with valuable information that led to the arrest.

“I would like to send my appreciation to Pinetown Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for gathering all the evidence that led to the arrest of the mother.”