Friday, 06 January 2012

Tossed in the toilet

Is this all life is worth? This perfect, brave baby girl, covered in human faeces, miraculously survived after a neighbour heard her desperate cries and saved her life

Discarded like a piece of rubbish into an eSikhawini pit latrine by her mother last week Tuesday, a perfectly formed, 2.5kg, full term baby girl was saved from certain death. It is believed that when the mother’s labour pains started, she simply went to the toilet, gave birth, and tossed her baby to die amongst human excrement. One of the baby’s saviours recounted the events. ‘Some time in the afternoon, the lady who owns the house heard a baby crying, and went to look for the noise. ‘She saw the baby in the toilet and called people to come help her. ‘So we took the baby out and called the police, and they took the baby to the clinic. ‘This is a terrible thing.’

According to community members, the mother was renting a room from the home owner in order to be near her boyfriend, and has since disappeared. Once members of the eSikhawini SAP arrived, the baby was immediately transported to the Thokozani Clinic, and then taken to the Lower Umfolozi District War Memorial Hospital in Empangeni. Hospital spokesperson Mvelo Nzuza says the baby girl is recovering well and is in a good condition. ‘She will remain here until a relative can be found. ‘If no relative can be found, she will be transported to a place of safety when she is old enough, and be entered into the South Africa’s social welfare system.’ The SAP were not able to comment on the whereabouts of the mother or the progress of the investigation at time of going to print.