Child neglect has been thrown back into the spotlight. Picture: iStock
With less than a month to go to Child Protection Week, the discovery of a baby in a shallow grave has thrown conversations about infant neglect back into the spotlight.
The body of the five-month-old baby boy was discovered in a shallow grave near a pit toilet at Mpongompongweni in KwaDukuza over the weekend.
According to The North Coast Courier, police said the child‘s parents were allegedly intoxicated when the child died a week earlier.
The father reportedly encouraged the mother to help bury the baby at a nearby river, but they struggled to dig an appropriate hole and returned home with the body.
“An inquest docket has been opened and a postmortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death. Detectives are investigating the case to bring those involved to justice,” said iLembe cluster police spokesperson, Captain Alex Thomson.