Domestic worker deserts child
NORTH RIDING – Child abandoned by domestic worker, catches pneumonia.
A domestic worker abandoned a four-year-old girl with special needs in a house before leaving with valuables.
The girl was left in front of an open back door, though its security gate was shut, for at least eight and a half hours on top of a blanket, and was later admitted to hospital with pneumonia.
The incident occurred at a complex in North Riding on 27 February.
“My husband came home at 7.30pm and found our daughter just inside our door without food or water,” said the girl’s mother Elizabeth Nayak.
“She had soiled herself. My daughter has a chromosome disorder, a brain that is not as developed as it should be and a hole in her heart. She also has a chronic cough.”
Nayak said her daughter had been scared and grumpy since and would not sleep on her own.
Before the incident the family’s full-time domestic worker had taken maternity leave and the family placed an advert for a new worker.
The domestic worker contacted them and said she would be happy with any amount of money. She worked for the family for two months before the incident occurred.
Douglasdale police are investigating the case and suspect a man helped the domestic worker carry the valuables over an electric-fenced wall.
The officer overseeing the case, Constable Godfrey Matshisevhe, said the police were trying to locate the domestic worker through
her cellphone service provider. He added that families should acquire the details of domestic workers who work for them. “People must ask for their full names and contact details,” he said.
“They should even contact someone to verify them, such as their next of kin. It may also help to take a photo of the person to keep.”
Details: Douglasdale police 011 699 1300.
