Women arrested for child negligence
On Tuesday August 26 a 35-year-old woman who had been arrested for child negligence last week was denied bail.
TONGA – On Tuesday August 26 a 35-year-old woman who had been arrested for child negligence last week was denied bail.
According to police, the woman of KaMhlushwa was arrested by the Tonga Family Violence, Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) for locking her twins inside her house and leaving them without food while she went to work.
“It is Women’s Month, yet there are still females who abuse children.” said Lt Mzwandile Nyambi of Tonga Police Station.
According to Nyambi, Const Mbokazi, an off-duty officer was in KaMhlushwa, was approached by a member of the community with the issue.
Mbokazi reported the matter to a member of FCS unit who was on standby and they responded to the complaint quickly. When they arrived they heard the children crying inside the house.
The unit broke the door down and rescued the twins, a boy and a girl who were one and half years old. They were taken to the victim-support centre in Tonga and a case of child neglect was opened. The mother was then arrested shortly thereafter.
Ms Shirley Nyangintshimbi of the Masisukumeni Women’s Crisis Centre said it was heartbreaking that a mother could give birth to children and fail to care for them.
She said, “It is always painful to find a mother who carried a child for nine months, but fails to care for them once she has given birth.”
The children are now in the care of social workers and the mother is expected back in court on August 29.
