A 23-year-old mother of three has been arrested after she allegedly tossed her newborn baby in a pit toilet.
The incident took place on Tuesday and the woman is due at the Mkhuhlu magistrate’s court soon on charges of attempted murder.
According to information obtained by the police, the woman and her love interest had made arrangements to meet later in the day.
It is alleged that the heavily pregnant woman from Bushbuckridge gave birth while visiting her love interest at Matangaleni Trust near Mkhuhlu in Mpumalanga.
Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, spokesperson for police in Mpumalanga, said when the man realised what the woman had done, police and medical practitioners were summoned to the scene and the baby was safely rescued from a pit toilet.
“On that fateful night, a few minutes before midnight, the woman responded to a call of nature and that was when the baby boy was born,” Mohlala said.
“She allegedly tried to conceal the birth by throwing the newborn baby inside a pit toilet. The police and medical practitioners were summoned to the scene and the baby was safely rescued and brought out [of a pit toilet].”
The woman was arrested and taken to the hospital with the baby for medical attention. She has been charged with attempted murder and is under police guard.
Lieutenant Semakaleng Manamela, Mpumalanga provincial police commissioner, condemned the incident and encouraged the public to make use of psychosocial services from professionals whenever they encounter stressful life experiences.
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