News / Africa
Woman (34) arrested for killing baby after giving birth
17 May 2012 at 11:34hrs | Views
ONE day she was pregnant, the next day she wasn't, but there was no baby! She was then forced to lead the police to a shallow grave where the baby had been buried.
Residents and her family said this was not the first time that a newborn child has been murdered.
Now the Zola woman is behind bars â€" for the moment, accused of concealment of death.
"This is because we don't know if the baby was buried alive or not," said Captain Fezile Malesa of the Jabulani police.
The woman is only 34 but she has had four children with four different men. Police yesterday bust her at work after her uncle and her eldest daughter reported her to the Jabulani Police Station. Yesterday, the woman went to work as if nothing had happened, but police opened a case and found her at her place of work.
"It was strange that the one moment she was pregnant and the next she wasn't. She goes out drinking at night and leaves her children with me. All these children are from different fathers. I tried going to social workers and the police to report this but nobody ever took me seriously. It's not the first time a baby of hers has disappeared," her angry uncle told our news crew.
He believes she killed the baby and dumped him in the open veld, where he was eaten by dogs. A friend of the accused who has known her since they were children said the woman didn't care at all about her kids.
"She brags that she can make babies all she wants because all the fathers of her babies can maintain them," she said.
A resident at the scene asked why this woman didn't just have an abortion: "She could even have given it to another woman who is desperate for a child. She is a monster. She must not be granted bail!," she said.
Jabulani cop spokeswoman Captain Fezile Malesa confirmed the arrest and said that more charges will depend on the pathologist's report. The suspect will soon appear in the Protea Magistrates Court. The uncle said he didn't know what will happen to her other kids.
"I don't work and I can't afford to raise them," he said.
Residents and her family said this was not the first time that a newborn child has been murdered.
Now the Zola woman is behind bars â€" for the moment, accused of concealment of death.
"This is because we don't know if the baby was buried alive or not," said Captain Fezile Malesa of the Jabulani police.
The woman is only 34 but she has had four children with four different men. Police yesterday bust her at work after her uncle and her eldest daughter reported her to the Jabulani Police Station. Yesterday, the woman went to work as if nothing had happened, but police opened a case and found her at her place of work.
He believes she killed the baby and dumped him in the open veld, where he was eaten by dogs. A friend of the accused who has known her since they were children said the woman didn't care at all about her kids.
"She brags that she can make babies all she wants because all the fathers of her babies can maintain them," she said.
A resident at the scene asked why this woman didn't just have an abortion: "She could even have given it to another woman who is desperate for a child. She is a monster. She must not be granted bail!," she said.
Jabulani cop spokeswoman Captain Fezile Malesa confirmed the arrest and said that more charges will depend on the pathologist's report. The suspect will soon appear in the Protea Magistrates Court. The uncle said he didn't know what will happen to her other kids.
"I don't work and I can't afford to raise them," he said.
Source - sowetan
