Baby abandoned in taxi – mother arrested

THE 37-year-old woman who allegedly abandoned her newborn baby at a taxi rank was traced and arrested on Tuesday.

Police spokeswoman Captain Nqobile Gwala said the baby was left at the Pavilion shopping mall taxi rank on December 2.

“The taxi driver had dropped off his passengers at the Pavilion taxi rank, he parked his taxi and sat with other drivers waiting for his turn to load. Later, he went to his taxi and heard a baby cry. He looked in the taxi and found something under the back seat wrapped in a blanket.

“A closer look revealed a young baby with a handwritten note as well as medication,” Gwala said.

She said the child was in a bad state of health as its eyes were swollen and its nappy had not been changed.

The child was taken to hospital and a case was opened at Westville Police station.

The case was handed over to the Pinetown Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit.

Tracking down the mother, said Gwala, was a major challenge as all that was left was a note and medication.

Police managed to follow the trail of the medication to St Mary’s Hospital in Mariannhill, but the woman had not left much information at the hospital and her relatives in Kokstad did not have information on her whereabouts.

The family were apparently still expecting her to come back with the baby.

After further investigation, Gwala said they tracked her down to the Embo area, where she was arrested.

She was charged with Child Abandonment and is expected to appear the Pinetown Magistrates Court soon.