Mother (17) found guilty of baby’s death

A young mother (17) has been convicted in the Port Shepstone Regional Magistrate’s Court of culpable homicide following the death of her seven-month-old baby, Ntando, on June 8, 2017.

She failed to appear in court on Monday, September 10 and a warrant for her arrest was issued.

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She was arrested and brought before court last week.

The social worker required 14 days to finalise her report and the case was postponed to the end of the month for sentencing.

Veli Nqoko (22) testified that he had ended his relationship with the teen before the child’s birth and without knowing that she was pregnant.

Her relatives had later taken Ntando to Mr Nqoko, who had four other children, and who lived with his two brothers.

The brothers helped buy food for the infant.

Mr Nqoko later dropped out of school to take care of Ntando during the week.

The court heard that the child suffered malnourishment during his stay with Mr Nqoko and it appeared that he had also suffered rib fractures as he cried in pain whenever picked up under the arms.

Mr Nqoko took the child to the clinic on May 29, 2017 to check why the baby was in pain. However there were no X-ray facilities at the clinic and the child was given medication only.

Ntando was taken back to the clinic on other occasions but the nurses who examined him said he was fine, despite the fact he cried when picked up.

One Thursday in June 2017, when the the baby was six months and two weeks old, the mother arrived at Mr Nqoko’s homestead to take the baby away.

Mr Nqoko told her not to touch the child as she had had nothing to do with him, and a struggle ensued between the two.

The young woman scratched and pulled the child in the process and it fell to the ground in the tussle.

According to the state’s evidence, Mr Nqoko could see the mother was angry and she kept saying ‘I want my child’.

He picked up the child and she fled.

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He noticed bloody fingernail scratches extending from the the baby’s right shoulder over the ribs to the left hip. His own fingernails were clipped short so he knew that the scratches had been inflicted by the mother.

A little blood trickled out of the baby’s mouth and onto his genitals.

By the Saturday, Mr Nqoko noticed one of the child’s legs was injured. It was too late for him to take the child to the clinic.

By the afternoon Ntando’s condition had deteriorated and Mr Nqoko’s 22-year-old cousin, who had been helping care for the baby, took Ntando to the clinic the following day.

A doctor phoned him later and informed him that there was a problem with the baby and advised him to go the police and report what the young mother had done to her child.

Ntando was transferred to a Durban hospital, where he died on the Monday, before Mr Nqoko could see him.

The pathologist testified that he had examined Ntando in order to determine the cause of death.

According to the pathologist who examined Ntando, the child was underweight, severely wasted and malnourished.

“There were multiple healing abrasions and bruises, in particular over the nose, lip and left side of the chin, both lateral aspects of the neck, right shoulder blade, over the right side of the abdomen, base and shaft of the penis, third digit of the left foot and anterior right thigh.”

He also mentioned that he found fresh healing and late stage healing rib fractures, probably caused by blunt force.

“Given the scenario of one person holding the child while the other pulled on the limbs, this too could have caused the injuries,” he said. “The combination of the injuries caused Ntando’s death. He would have endured a lot of pain.”

He added the child could have been saved if taken to a doctor soon after the fall he had suffered.

Investigating officer, Sergeant Michelle van Niekerk, told the court she believed the department of social services should have been alerted when the child first came to the attention of the police.

This was, however, not done.

She agreed that Ntando was malnourished while in Mr Nqoko’s care, but that she thought he had done his best under the circumstances.

Regional Magistrate Johann Bester said that the mother’s actions amounted to an assault on the body of the child and this assault contributed to the baby’s death.

“No reasonable person in the same situation as the mother would have failed to appreciate that such brutal yanking and pulling at the infant’s body and limbs could cause him serious injury leading to death, even if he were a healthy child.”

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