Getrude Makhafola
Getrude Makhafola
A 43-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly killing her one-month-old baby girl and burying her in the back yard of her shack.
Police yesterday exhumed remains of the little girl's body from the yard in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg. They had been tipped off by neighbours.
Neighbours came in numbers yesterday to watch as police arrested the woman and started digging in her back yard.
The baby's body was taken away for forensic tests and the woman is expected to appear in court today.
"She says she gave birth to a premature baby and, since it was stillborn, she decided bury the baby on her own," said police spokesman Captain Packree Ashraaf.
"She will be charged with concealment of birth for now while further investigations will be conducted on the body."
Ashraaf said police took statements from neighbours who said the baby was alive when it was born.
Diepsloot police have recently been called to exhume a number of bodies, foetuses and other body tissues and a special unit was established to deal with such cases.
"The unit is equipped to deal with such similar cases," Ashraaf said.
Ashraaf appealed to the community not to bury babies or foetuses.
"It is illegal and punishable by law," he said.
Mom arrested for killing of tiny baby girl
Getrude Makhafola
Getrude Makhafola
A 43-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly killing her one-month-old baby girl and burying her in the back yard of her shack.
Police yesterday exhumed remains of the little girl's body from the yard in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg. They had been tipped off by neighbours.
Neighbours came in numbers yesterday to watch as police arrested the woman and started digging in her back yard.
The baby's body was taken away for forensic tests and the woman is expected to appear in court today.
"She says she gave birth to a premature baby and, since it was stillborn, she decided bury the baby on her own," said police spokesman Captain Packree Ashraaf.
"She will be charged with concealment of birth for now while further investigations will be conducted on the body."
Ashraaf said police took statements from neighbours who said the baby was alive when it was born.
Diepsloot police have recently been called to exhume a number of bodies, foetuses and other body tissues and a special unit was established to deal with such cases.
"The unit is equipped to deal with such similar cases," Ashraaf said.
Ashraaf appealed to the community not to bury babies or foetuses.
"It is illegal and punishable by law," he said.