Stepdad, mom deny guilt after Poppie, 3, dies
THE biological mother and stepfather of little Louisa (Poppie) van der Merwe, 3, who died a year ago after she was allegedly severely assaulted and kicked in the stomach, said yesterday they were not to blame.
The couple pleaded not guilty, but remained mum about their defence. They are facing four charges, including assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, alternatively child abuse.
The toddler was rushed to a Brits hospital on October 25 last year, but declared dead on arrival. Her stepfather, Kobus Koekemoer, 44, was arrested at the hospital; her mother, Louisa, 46, a while later.
The couple sat far apart in the dock in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, yesterday and did not speak to each other. Both are in custody.
It is claimed that the couple, over several months, abused Poppie and a 5-year-old boy by shouting at them, hitting and kicking them, pulling and twisting their ears, dousing them with icy water in winter and throwing them against solid objects.
The defence said the mother and her children fled from Westonaria to Orania after the woman’s former partner assaulted her and the children. Her new husband Kobus later joined them in Orania.
Yesterday several witnesses testified how warning lights were flashing that the children were abused. People in Orania reported to the authorities that something was wrong. A neighbour told a woman, who acted as a counsellor, he suspected the children were being abused. A doctor who examined them – Poppie on two occasions – noted an array of injuries. Her daycare teacher noted injuries too.
But although warning bells sounded, the authorities failed the little girl. Social services in Orania said they monitored the family, and the doctor said she noted the injuries, but did not report it as she thought social services were handling it. Social services said they contactedsocial workers in nearby Hopetown to step in, but never received any feedback. The social worker in Hopetown said she never received any correspondence.
A nurse also did not act as she thought the matter was being handled elsewhere.
Judge Bert Bam questioned the witnesses as to why they did not act. They had a duty to notify the police, yet they all did nothing.
It emerged that up until Poppie’s body, riddled with injuries from head to toe, arrived at the hospital in Brits, police were never informed.
Remarking about the failure by the witnesses to act, the judge commented: “You people’s conduct is just weird.”
Orania’s local doctor at the time, Margaret Bekker, said when she saw Poppie, she had bruises on her body and a severe blue bruise on her forehead. The mother explained the child had bumped her head against the car and said the bruises were a result of the children injuring each other.
Poppie, at one stage suffered a broken leg. This time the mother said she had fallen down stairs. Orania counsellor Heidi Smith said following complaints that the children were abused, she took them under her wing. The children stayed with her for a week. At night Poppie woke up screaming due to nightmares. Teacher, Esna Schumann, said Poppie was a loveable child. When she arrived at school with a huge bump on her forehead, Poppie told her “they” had hurt her. The family suddenly left Orania one day. Poppie died a few days later.