Foster mother relieved of teen’s care

A TEENAGER’S behaviour disorder got so out of hand that she, among other things, murdered the family cat and the rabbit.

Her foster mother was left with no choice but to turn to the North Gauteng High Court for an urgent order to be released from her contract to care for her.

The woman said it broke her heart to have the 14-yearold girl return to either an orphanage or place of safety, but she had no choice.

“I pains me that I can no longer take care of her, but I am simply at the end of my wits and I beg the court to come to my assistance,” she said.

Apart from killing the family pets, the girl broke virtually all the crockery and windows in her foster mother’s house and even assaulted the woman.

The woman opened her heart to the teenager and her sister a few years ago when she heard of their plight in an orphanage.

With the assistance of a Christian social service organisation, she took the children in as a foster mother.

But the 14-year-old suffered from multiple psychological problems which became worse as the years went by.

She started off by breaking objects in her foster mother’s house and drove the woman’s car into a wall. She was admitted to a psychiatric institution and seemed better.

On the day of her release chaos erupted at the house as the family dog killed some pet rabbits. The teenager reacted in a psychotic manner, breaking things in the house and assaulting her foster mother.

The woman said the next day, she took the child to her (the foster mother’s) parents in Pretoria east to calm down.

“There she killed one of the new rabbits I had bought due to her anxiety,” the foster mother said.

She had to fetch the child and out of desperation, she drove to her church for help.

“On the way there, she kicked and broke my car windscreen and radio. At the church, some members managed to calm her down.”

A few days later the child attended a school camp, but this excursion was also shortlived as she stole underwear from a friend.

“On being caught, she tore her Bible’s pages and locked herself in a bathroom.”

The woman said the teenager manipulated her and insisted that she must buy her things such as a doll costing R1 800. If that did not happen, she refused to attend school.

“She also exhibited unnatural behaviour such as killing one of our pet cats.”

The woman said she normally acceded to the teenager’s demands in a bid to keep the peace, but she was nearing her wit’s end.

“She frequently pulls my necklace and it feels as if I am being strangled.”

One evening the child again broke windows and the television set.

She hit her foster mother to such an extent that the woman had to phone the police for help. The police did not want to interfere as the girl was a minor.

The woman said she was on the verge of a breakdown and was diagnosed with chronic major depression.

The court ordered that their relationship had deteriorated to such an extent that she could no longer be the child’s foster mother.