Partly-buried, days-old baby found abandoned

Police look for mother after little girl left to die in bushes

Social workers have been asked to assist and will care for the child while the probe is under way

ATHREE-DAY-OLD baby – partially covered in soil – was found on Tuesday after being dumped and left to die in the bushes near Kwadwesi. Police and social workers are looking for the mother or relatives of the baby girl.

A case of child abandonment and attempted murder has been opened for investigation by the police.

The child, who was naked, was discovered by children playing nearby at about 4pm.

Police suspect the baby had been dumped in the bushes – less than 100m from the nearest shack – earlier in the day.

Police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge said when the children had found the baby they ran to get help.

“Police were alerted a short while later. Ambulance personal stabilised the baby girl and rushed her to Dora Nginza Hospital where she is recovering and being cared for,” he said.

Beegte said the child was believed to have been born at Dora Nginza Hospital earlier in the week.

“There was a sticker found on the child’s body which is from the hospital’s paediatric ward,” he said.

“Detectives are consulting the hospital to establish the identity of the mother.”

Asked about the delay in identifying the mother, Beegte said it was a process of tracking down all the mothers who had given birth recently at the hospital.

“It is a long process of following up with all the mothers who have given birth at who hospital over the past week.

“In past cases we have had similar issues where false names or bogus residential addresses were provided to the hospital.”

He said this often made it difficult to track down the mothers.

“In other cases, mothers are often not at home, they are staying at another address for relatives to assist,” Beetge said.

“All this takes a while to follow up, which is why we are now calling on the community to assist us.”

He said detectives from the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigation unit had taken over the investigation.

“Social workers have also been roped in to assist and will be caring for the child while the probe is under way,” Beetge said.

Social worker Pamela Rubushe said the girl had been admitted at 5pm on Tuesday afternoon.

She was covered in mud and had a bruise on her chin. Her right arm was not moving.

Rubushe said the child was healthy otherwise.

“She is being observed pending her placement at a place of safety,” she said.

Beetge asked anyone with information regarding the matter to contact Kwadwesi police on (041) 405 4700 or (041) 405 8512 or Lieutenant-Colonel Singapphi Sijako on 082-302-5961.