Foetus found in suburban refuse bag

DORCHESTER Heights residents were shocked to learn that a foetus had been discovered in a refuse bag early yesterday morning.

Captain Nkosikho Mzuku, of the SAPS, said: “This morning [Wednesday] police were called to a house where the foetus was found.

“Cambridge police are investigating a concealment of death.

“It is unclear what led to the foetus not being formally reported to the authorities.

“The gruesome discovery was made by a man looking for something to eat in a refuse bag. He did so after asking permission from the property owners as the refuse was still inside their yard,” said Mzuku.

“He later notified the owners about the discovery of the foetus covered in a bag and dumped in the waste,” he said.

Captain Mluleki Mbi, of the SAPS, said: “Police interviewed the tenants [residing at the back of the property] and a 27-year-old woman took responsibility for the incident.

“Police will await the postmortem results, which will reveal if this was an abortion or miscarriage, before sending the docket to the public prosecutor for a decision,” said Mbi.

Sizwe Kupelo, the Eastern Cape health spokesman, said that, just like any corpse found, the foetus would be sent to the department’s forensic facilities for a postmortem to determine the age of the foetus.

He said that once the postmortem was done the body could be claimed. If it was not then the department would go through the municipality to have a burial.

Marilise Myburgh, a Dorchester Heights resident, said: “This is definitely a shock to us [the community].”

Myburgh said the community was prepared to give the foetus a memorial service if no one else would.