Also read: Pregnant mother tries to commit suicide after poisoning her two-year-old toddler
Child locked in house for four days
A 25-year-old mother who asked her two neighbours to look after her baby for only a short while but three days later had still not returned, is being investigated by police for child negligence.
The three-month-old ill baby was left with the strangers with no food, clothes or medication at a block of flats on Voortrekker Road in the Kempton Park central business district.
According to Capt Jethro Mtshali, spokesman for Kempton Park SAPS, the two women who were left with the baby finally decided to report the matter to the authorities after the mother had not returned after three days.
“On January 2 at about 2pm, two women brought the baby boy to the station, alleging that his mother just left him at their flat and asked them to look after him for a short while and she would return soon,” Mtshali said.
The woman, who lives at Van Rhyn Court, did not return as promised.
“Upon checking the baby, the police discovered that his health condition was bad and he had breathing problems. An ambulance was called to the station and the baby taken to hospital.”
On January 8, the mother was spotted by the two women and they took her to the police station at about 4.50pm.
The woman briefly appeared in court on January 12, where she faced child negligence charges. The court requested that further investigations are conducted by the police, upon which the findings will determine whether the mother would be prosecuted or not.
The baby boy is still being treated in hospital.
