‘Baby basher’ quits bail attempt
THE MAN accused of using a two-day-old baby as a weapon while fighting with his live-in lover yesterday abandoned his bail application.
Alexander Nde Forba, 32, a Cameroonian, faces a charge of murdering the infant girl after he allegedly used her as a club to batter his partner, the child’s mother, during an argument.
Forba was expected to appear for a bail application yesterday but, instead, he decided to withdraw his application. He faces a charge of murder and assault.
The case was moved from Kgosi Mampuru II correctional facility to the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court for yesterday’s appearance because of the interest it had generated.
Forba’s lawyer, Bronwinn Marshall, objected to the application made by media houses to have her client’s picture taken and published, but magistrate Desmond Nair overruled it.
Marshall said Forba feared that he would be subjected to victimisation and retribution if his picture were made public.
The mother, who had given birth on February 12, was discharged from Kalafong Hospital on February 14 and went back to the flat the couple share with three other families at Nicolas Heights in Pretoria West.
Forba allegedly came home in the early hours of the Sunday in a drunken state, arguing with the baby’s mother over the paternity of the child.
The court heard that he allegedly assaulted the mother, then followed her to a nearby filling station where he pulled the baby from the mother’s back and used her as an instrument to assault the woman.
The baby was rushed to Kalafong Hospital but later died from her injuries.
The mother has since been under constant supervision and is receiving counselling.
After Forba abandoned his bail application, prosecutor Sipho Letsoalo asked for the matter to be postponed to April 13 for further investigation.
“We need to get footage from the garage and we need to get statements from the witnesses,” Letsoalo said.