Elisha Molefe and John Matona
Elisha Molefe and John Matona
The final resting place of a two-month-old baby was nearly a cattle kraal where her grandparents had secretly buried her.
Now, thanks to a tip-off by the public, the Itsoseng police yesterday exhumed the body of Baby Kedibone* as the astonished residents of Kgomola section in Bodibe, North West, called her.
Had she been alive, she would have been two months old yesterday. Instead she died last Friday after a short illness and was buried under the cover of darkness on Sunday.
But as a Setswana saying goes, appropriately the language used in the area, sekhukhuni se bonwa ke sebataladi - loosely translated it means that there is no place to hide. Children within the family spied on the secret burial.
The dead baby's aunt, Rosinah Kgoane, 44, said the baby's grandfather, who is employed by a major electricity utility, claimed he had no money to bury his granddaughter.
"It is just sheer luck that the other children saw Kedibone's grandfather and a neighbour burying her in a shallow grave," said Kgoane.
She said she immediately rushed to Kedibone's grandparents and demanded to see the baby.
"Her grandfather told me that she was dead and they did not have money to give her a proper burial."
Kgoane immediately contacted the police and the body was exhumed, Itsoseng police spokesman Inspector Lebogang Mokgothu said.
Sowetan is in possession of the grandfather's name, but he cannot be named until he appears in court.
* Baby Kedibone is not her real name
Police exhume body
Elisha Molefe and John Matona
Elisha Molefe and John Matona
The final resting place of a two-month-old baby was nearly a cattle kraal where her grandparents had secretly buried her.
Now, thanks to a tip-off by the public, the Itsoseng police yesterday exhumed the body of Baby Kedibone* as the astonished residents of Kgomola section in Bodibe, North West, called her.
Had she been alive, she would have been two months old yesterday. Instead she died last Friday after a short illness and was buried under the cover of darkness on Sunday.
But as a Setswana saying goes, appropriately the language used in the area, sekhukhuni se bonwa ke sebataladi - loosely translated it means that there is no place to hide. Children within the family spied on the secret burial.
The dead baby's aunt, Rosinah Kgoane, 44, said the baby's grandfather, who is employed by a major electricity utility, claimed he had no money to bury his granddaughter.
"It is just sheer luck that the other children saw Kedibone's grandfather and a neighbour burying her in a shallow grave," said Kgoane.
She said she immediately rushed to Kedibone's grandparents and demanded to see the baby.
"Her grandfather told me that she was dead and they did not have money to give her a proper burial."
Kgoane immediately contacted the police and the body was exhumed, Itsoseng police spokesman Inspector Lebogang Mokgothu said.
Sowetan is in possession of the grandfather's name, but he cannot be named until he appears in court.
* Baby Kedibone is not her real name