MSHOLOZI – Residents of Phumlani Section were shocked when a 22-year-old mother confessed to the killing and dumping of her infant in a neighbour’s pit latrine.
The incident that shocked many apparently happened a week ago and it was only five days later that curious community members noted that the woman was not pregnant anymore, although she did not have a newborn with her.
“We then asked her about the whereabouts of her baby since we knew she was pregnant.
She initially told some of us that she had left the baby at Rob Ferreira Hospital and others that she left the infant at its father’s paternal home in Acornhoek, but we could sense that something was fishy here,” said her neighbours.
It was only on Wednesday evening when elderly women from the area were called to talk to her that she admitted to having given birth to a baby girl, whom she strangled, put in a black plastic bag and threw down a pit toilet.
Angry members of the community then forced her to show them where the body of the infant was. The baby’s corpse was then retrieved from the toilet. The media and police were called to the scene. The mother was arrested.
The community vowed to take the law into their own hands should the mother be released and added that they intended to oppose bail. “She has no place among us, she is a bad influence and we don’t want her here anymore,” they shouted.
Some even called for a thorough investigation to be done. “We want to know who assisted her in giving birth to that infant,” they said. This newspaper also learnt from her friends that on the same Friday she had committed the crime, she was seen dancing at a tavern in the area. The woman also has a another two-year-old child. White River police confirmed the case.
The mother appeared in the White River Magistrate’s Court last Friday on a charge of murder. She was remanded in custody and the matter was postponed to December 12 for bail application. Police investigations are still continuing.
Speaking to Mama Esther Nkosi, the founder of a locally based orphanage centre, she said the rate of child abuse in the area was rife. She recently adopted a three-month-old infant who was apparently left for three days in a shack while the mother went on a drinking spree.
“A lot of child abuse takes place in the area and a lot needs to be done to curb it,” said Nkosi.
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