A young woman who allegedly gave birth at home and buried her child three doors down in her friend’s backyard, made a brief appearance in the Athlone Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
Janine Mahabeer, 23, from Kewtown currently stands accused of concealment of birth, after burying what she called a foetus, after a legal abortion.
The matter was postponed again yesterday as the medical reports and investigation are not yet complete.
Police sources say if an autopsy finds the baby was born alive, a murder charge may be added.
Mahabeer, dressed smartly in blue jeans and a dark blue shirt, walked into the courtroom smiling, and sat quietly as proceedings got underway.
She was accompanied by her boyfriend.
It’s believed she buried her baby in August, and was arrested after a witness piemped her to police.
The man told Daily Voice he tried to report the matter to four different police stations before someone at Athlone SAPS investigated.
Mahabeer was not arrested until three weeks later, on August 30, at her Kewton home
The witness claims he heard a baby cry when Mahabeer gave birth at her house, and saw her with the baby, wrapped in newspaper and placed in a black bag.
The man, who is a state witness, says when they confronted her, Mahabeer told him she was less than 18 weeks pregnant, and had a legal abortion.
“I heard that child cry, I took the bag and opened it. She is a liar and we have the pictures to prove he baby was full-grown and not a foetus, man. I took photos,” he says.
At her first court appearance on September 1, Magistrate Keith Le Keur released Mahabeer on R500 bail, which outraged the community.
Community worker Amina Rajap said Mahabeer showed no remorse.
“We petitioned the magistrate not to release her, but it was not enough,” she tells Daily Voice.
Her next court appearance is on November 8.