The sad and gruesome story of a little girl beaten to death, surfaced on Monday as the Poppie murder trial began in Pretoria.
Standing trial for the murder of 3-year-old Poppie van der Merwe are her mother Louisa and her stepfather, Kobus Koekemoer.
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The couple also face charges of assault, child abuse, and assault with the intention to do grievous bodily harm.
It is alleged that Kobus kicked and beat Poppie to death.
Louisa has pleaded not guilty and said Kobus was responsible for the child’s death.
It is alleged that over several months the couple abused Poppie and her 5-year-old brother by shouting at them; hitting and kicking them; dousing them with icy water in the winter; and throwing them against solid objects.
Evidence brought forward by witnesses revealed that there were warning signs that the children were being abused following the family’s move to Orania.
A daycare teacher noticed injuries on the little girl, while a councillor in the town was notified by a neighbour that he suspected the children were being abused.
A medical doctor who examined Poppie on two occasions, noticed injuries on her.
The doctor said that although she noticed injuries, she did not report it because she thought local social services were already dealing with the matter.
Presiding judge over the trial Bert Bam said he was baffled as to why nobody ever bothered to notify the SAPS of what was going on as it was clear that there was ongoing abuse and ill-treatment of the children.
The SAPS were only notified of the abuse when the little girl had already died.
The social worker in Hopetown said she had never received any correspondence from social services regarding the children.
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