A 21-year-old woman is expected to appear in the Lehurutshe Magistrate’s Court in North West on Monday in connection with the alleged attempted murder of her newborn baby.

The woman was charged on Saturday for allegedly attempting to kill her three-day-old baby boy‚ North West police said.

“According to information available at this stage‚ it appears that the woman‚ whom the family did not know that she was pregnant‚ delivered a baby boy without assistance of any person‚ and then threw the newborn into a pit toilet on Thursday at Dinokana village‚ Lehurutshe.

“The baby was discovered by the woman's cousin after she saw blood on the toilet floor. While still shocked‚ she heard the baby crying from the pit toilet and called her sister and the neighbours‚” police said.

The police and Emergency Medical and Rescue Services (EMRS) were summoned to the scene and the newborn baby was rescued. The mother and the baby were taken to hospital for medical examination.

“After being under police guard since Thursday‚ the mother was discharged from the hospital on Saturday‚” police added.