Ronel Hayes, founder of The Deon Rothman Foundation and Justice for Baby Deon and close friend of Bianca Rothman, has lashed out at the Huisgenoot magazine and some of its readers after they recently posted an article on the Pelser murder case which she felt was sensationalism.
The sentiment of many the readers was that the mother of the six-month-old baby Deon Rothman, Bianca, should have “acted sooner” – despite the fact that Bianca was already in the process of divorcing murder accused father Marthinus Pelser when the incident took place. Some readers took it further, saying Bianca “did not deserve to have had a baby” and one noted that she should be “hit with an axe”. Hayes also lambasted the article itself, calling it “typical Huisgenoot sensationalism”.
Read more here: Pelser Trial: Mother testifies for first time (Graphic content)
“Not one of the people had anything to say about Pelser, while he is on trial and not Bianca. People are much more concerned with why women stay in abusive relationships than with the abuser himself. They do not understand the complicated psychology of these relationships. Bianca wanted to go to the police numerous times but was afraid of Pelser,” said an angry Hayes. “Pelser seemed like the typical doting dad and did nothing to the baby that raised suspicion. Everyone leaves their children with their fathers; how should she have known [that he would turn violent]? Now these keyboard warriors are throwing stones at a mom who had to hold the lifeless body of her firstborn in her arms. She has to live with regret every day.
“Words hurt and these cruel comments will remain with her. She loved her baby so much and would have died for him if she’d had to. Now they blame her and not the perpetrator for the crime,” said Hayes.
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She went on to explain that Huisgenoot wrongly portrayed Pelser as a loving dad because of his pictures of Deon on his Facebookpage. “He did not post those pictures, Bianca did,” Hayes fumed.
Also Read: ‘Never push a man to violence’ says father’s Facebook post
“We have repeatedly told Huisgenoot that we do not want to feature in their articles or on their website due to their bad journalism. Where were they from day one? Why did no one make this kind of comment on the Record‘s Facebook page? I’ll tell you why – because Huisgenoot‘s articles are only about sensation. The article was in bad taste and the comments worse. We as the Justice for Baby Deon activists are disgusted. We have walked this road with Bianca for more than a year and know her heart. She could not have prevented this. Why do people not support her? If these people are so opinionated, why don’t they try and make a difference like the 5 000 supporters of our group have? I guess it is easier to sit behind a keyboard and air your ill-informed ignorant opinions on Facebook,” Hayes concluded.
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