Pretoria - A 28-year-old mother is scheduled to appear before the Taung Magistrates’ Court in North West today for allegedly murdering her one-year-old daughter.
Spokesperson for the South African Police Service in North West, Colonel Adéle Myburgh, said the woman’s court appearance stems from an incident which was reported to police on Friday.
“The grandparents allegedly reported that they saw the 28-year-old mother leaving the house in Dryharts with her one-year-old baby but returned alone later. Upon questioning her about the whereabouts of her child, she could not give any explanation, and the police were contacted,” Myburgh explained.
“Subsequent investigations led the police to an open bushy area, where the body of the baby was found on Saturday afternoon, 12 March 2022.”
Preliminary investigations revealed that the slain baby’s body was found with what appears to be a stab wound in her neck.
“The baby was declared dead on the scene by Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) paramedics. The 28-year-mother was immediately arrested,” Myburgh added.
Meanwhile, provincial commissioner of police in the North West, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, thanked the grandparents for quickly reporting the incident and working with the police to ensure that the baby's mother was brought to book.
In December, North West couple Seun Joubert and Isabelle Francis appeared in the Klerksdorp Magistrate’s Court on a charge of murder and five additional charges of contravening the Children’s Act following the death of their four-month-old baby, who allegedly died of complications due to malnutrition.
Joubert, 44, and Francis, 35, from Alabama, near Klerksdorp, reportedly lived together for 15 years and have two boys aged two and five, as well as two girls, aged eight and 13.
“It is alleged that in May 2021, Francis was arrested for assaulting her two-year-old boy but was later released as she was at that time breastfeeding the deceased who was born on 24 April 2021,” spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in North West, Henry Mamothame said at the time.
“In September 2021, Francis was arrested again, for assaulting her 13-year-old daughter at her mother’s house. She allegedly hit her with clenched fists, kicked her before throwing her on the ground and stomping her afterwards. She went on to assault her mother,” said Mamothame.
IOL