Baby dumping mother receives suspended sentence in Verulam

A 31 year old mother who was tracked down and arrested by Members of Reaction Unit South on January 14th, 2019 approximately 45 minutes after she dumped her newborn baby pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the Verulam Regional Court today.

The woman received a six (6) year jail sentence wholly suspended for five (5) years on condition that she is not convicted of any child abuse related charges during the same period.

RUSA was called out to Olivine Road in Everest Heights – Verulam at approx 14:29 on the day of the incident after a scrap metal collector heard the cries of a child in a tied up refuse bag. Reaction Officers arrived on scene and searched several bags and eventually found a newborn baby boy weighing approx 2kg in one of the black refuse bin bags. The child was rescued minutes before a bin truck arrived to fetch the garbage on the road. He was transported to Osindisweni Government Hospital and picked up an infection days later. He has since recovered and reported to be in good health.

While Paramedics treated the child, Reaction Officers tracked down the woman approx 100 meters from the scene. She initially denied knowledge of the child dumping but eventually broke down and confessed when an Officer questioned her about a single drop of blood on her denim shorts.

The woman informed the courts that she had broken up with her boyfriend who was unaware of her pregnancy. She then concealed the pregnancy from her parents and gave birth while her two kids were at school. She then cleaned up the bathroom & threw the child into a refuse bag and dumped him in a pile of garbage for collection.

Reaction Officers received several threats after placing the woman under arrest and handing her over to the South African Police.