Severity of child abuse increasing
Parents under pressure, authorities must be more aware – experts
THE NAMES of three murdered children have been echoing across Durban courtrooms this week and experts are convinced attacks on children are becoming more severe.
Sloan Prins, 7, Rinaldo Elijah Kubair, 7, and 3-year-old Baby X, whose identity cannot be revealed as she was sexually assaulted. Each was killed, allegedly by the people who were meant to protect them.
On June 5, Sloan’s mother, Megan Prins, 34, allegedly drugged and suffocated her at a guesthouse in umhlanga.
Prins, a single mother from Morningside, had frantically called the guest-house owner to the room late at night. She was found with her wrists slit and her dead child beside her.
Prins is facing a murder charge at Durban magistrate’s court, and is undergoing psychiatric evaluation at Fort Napier hospital in Pietermaritzburg.
On April 23, 2017, Pravin
Kubair walked to a Phoenix park late at night, carrying a washing line rope. He pulled behind him his 7-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. “In the park, I strangled my son with the rope,” he confessed at Durban High Court last week.
Kubair said he had stopped when he realised what he had been doing, but it was too late. He admitted he had also intended killing his daughter. She would have witnessed her brother’s murder had she not fallen asleep.
In November 2014, the weak, scarred body of Baby X was carried out of her home in Havenside, Chatsworth.
The toddler had succumbed to fatal injuries following years of torture, allegedly at the hands of her mother and grandmother. Her grandmother died in prison earlier this year while awaiting judgment.
Baby X’s mother, who has claimed to be mentally impaired following a car accident, is awaiting judgment after a fouryear-long trial.
The women allegedly physically, emotionally and sexually tortured Baby X, her 11-year-old brother and 8-year-old sister. The siblings were allegedly beaten with sharp objects, burnt with cigarettes, starved, forced to beg and pinched on their genitals.
The State claims the grandmother rubbed chillies on Baby X’s genitals.
Child abuse cases were becoming increasingly severe, said Divya Naidoo, the child protection manager at Save The Children SA.
“This has been happening but the degree of abuse is more severe. It’s easy to ignore a child being hit, but when a child dies, it is a crime, and is becoming public.”
Chatsmed Hospital-based psychologist Dr Guru Kistnasamy said it was possible that a person could have psychological conditions, such as depression or limited cognitive abilities, that would prevent them from recognising the consequences of their actions.
“It could also be the case where a person has abandoned their partner and so the partner tries to take revenge and resorts to harming the child, especially if the child is not theirs biologically.”
Kubair said in his plea statement that he wanted revenge after he and his wife, Lynette Chetty, had separated.
He is to be sentenced in October. Said Naidoo: “An innocent child becomes the victim when two adults are angry or want revenge. This should not be accepted, people need to be more vigilant.
“When you see someone hitting their child at the mall, don’t stand back and say ‘that’s not my business’. Say something.
“Parents will get offended, but child abuse is everyone’s business. Violence should not be tolerated.”
Kistnasamy added: “This zero tolerance for abuse will be a safety net in future.
“Teachers need to be more observant of children and raise the alarm when there are signs of abuse such as emotional withdrawal or self-harm.”
While child abuse can be reported to relevant authorities, including the SAPS and Childline, Naidoo said Save The Children SA focused on preventive measures via workshops.
“There is no study or qualification to be a parent, but we help by working with parents, children and even their teachers to build on relationships.
“We’re not pointing fingers at bad parenting, as there are always struggles.”