Gauteng mom arrested after dumping and trying to burn newborn baby

Vanderbjilpark community members assisted in apprehending a woman who dumped a newborn baby and attempted to burn the body.

Oct 20, 2022 - 17:52
1113
Gauteng mom arrested after dumping and trying to burn newborn baby

A 35-year-old woman has been charged with murder after she allegedly dumped and tried to burn a newborn baby. 

The incident reportedly happened on Monday, 17 October in Boipatong, Vanderbjilpark, Gauteng. 

MOM ARRESTED FOR DUMPING NEWBORN BABY 

According to the South African Police Service (SAPS) police in Boipatong responded to a crime scene whereby a body of a newborn was found.

A community member reportedly saw the woman pushing a wheelbarrow to a dumping site and subsequently dumping and attempting to burn the baby. The woman’s clothes reportedly had blood on them, believed to be that of the baby’s, when she was arrested.

Spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Sello said the suspect allegedly tried to burn the body after dumping it however with the help of community members, the suspect was apprehended and has appeared before  Vanderbijlpark Magistrates’ Court on a charge of murder. 

Police investigations are ongoing.

newborn baby
A newborn baby. Image via Unsplash

In another incident, Limpopo Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe ordered an immediate probe into the brutal murder of a newborn baby whose body was dumped at a certain house in Ga-Mashabela village in the Masemola policing area on 15 September 2022.

Limpopo police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said according to the reports, the members of a family woke up only to find the body of a newborn baby wrapped in a plastic bag on their doorstep.

The police were immediately summoned and upon arrival they started with initial investigations.

ALSO READ: Hlabisa Hospital staff praised for reuniting stolen baby with biological mom

Ledwaba said it is believed that the baby girl who is about a day old was strangled before she was put inside the bag. It was also found that the body was already at decomposition stage. The mother of the child has not yet been identified.

“Police have opened a case of murder and the circumstances surrounding the incident will be determined by ongoing investigations,” she said.