Gran 'thought baby was a cat'
2008-03-27 14:05
Thabisile Khoza and Oris Mnisi
Bushbuckridge - A 17-year-old girl accused of dumping her newborn baby girl down a pit toilet in Mpumalanga has been released on warning.
She was arrested on Good Friday when her boyfriend's mother went to the communal pit toilet in Hluvukani near Bushbuckridge at about 06:30 and heard the infant crying from the bottom of the pit.
"I was shocked to hear the wailing cry of an infant. I first thought it was a cat, but then realised that it was the sound of my newly born granddaughter," said her mother-in-law, Nomsa Mkansi.
She said she went to check in on her boyfriend's daughter, who was staying at the house, to confirm she was no longer pregnant.
She called her husband and neighbours for help, as well as the police.
The community, together with the police, were able to rescue the baby. She and her mother were taken to Tintswalo Hospital for treatment.
They were discharged on Tuesday and the teenager was taken to the Mhala Magistrate's Court.
She was not asked to plead to charges of attempted murder and was released on warning until she appears again on March 31.
- African Eye