Frantic child freed from car

2003-12-18 22:25

Retha Fourie

Polokwane (Pietersburg) - A dentist appeared in court here on Thursday on charges of child neglect after she left a two-year-old in her car for hours in temperatures of 34°.

Inspector Nthobeng Phala, a police spokesperson, said police were called to the car on Monday afternoon by concerned members of the public who noted the child had been in the car for at least two hours.

The car had been left in the parking lot of a shopping centre. The child was locked in the steaming car and had been crying hysterically.

Phala said police raced to the centre after receiving the call and also called paramedics to the scene.

They broke a window to get the child out of the car.

Phala said that the child had been rescued just in time but that had police not been called, the consequences could have been fatal.

After rescuing the boy, police then went in search of the woman, Eva Moletjane. She was found doing her grocery shopping in the centre.

Moletjane was arrested and warned to appear in court on Thursday. She was released on bail. The case was set for February 15.

Moletjane is a dentist at the Willem Knobel hospital in Moletjie.

- Beeld