Sheldean 'had hell on earth'
18/03/2007 21:35  - (SA)  

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Hanlie Retief

Pretoria - Sheldean Human, abducted and murdered on February 18, is in a better place because her seven years on earth were pure hell, says her mother, Elize.

Elize Human says she's consumed with guilt at the poverty, pain and suffering that her blonde child had to endure for so long, before she was abducted and murdered.

"She'd endured more in her seven years than any child her age. What she went through was not fit for a child."

Sheldean fainted from hunger at school barely a week before she disappeared.

Her mother knew about it. "I explained to the school there was too little for her (to eat). They put her on the food parcels."

The frail girl received food at home about three times a week. Her mother chokes back the tears and says she'd "rather not" talk about it.

"If I could turn back the clock, I'd like to give her a better home - to care for her better. Something tells me I've failed. I feel so guilty."

Regarding rumours that, if she had been found alive, the welfare department was considering taking Sheldean away from Elize, the response is "can't comment on that".

Can't have another child

Last October, she and Sheldean had to move out of their one-bedroom flat in Mountain View to the commune, a suburban house that already was home to 39 other people.

Sheldean last saw her father on December 22.

"It's a sensitive matter," says Elize, without expanding.

"I wish I could just run away from it all," says Human.

She recalls that she and her "porcelain doll" combed the streets together that morning, in search of another place to stay.

Later: "There's no chance that I can have another child. I've had the op. I was already getting on when I had her."