A mother is facing charges of child neglect and attempted murder after dumping her newborn baby in a resident’s backyard in Kuils River.
A shocked Alana Jacobs, 41 says she found the naked baby girl around 9:30am, laying in the wet grass, with a piece of the umbilical cord still attached to the infant’s navel.
“I am okay for now. I never thought I would find myself in a situation like this but she is alive,” Alana tells the Daily Voice.
She says early on Sunday morning when her daughter wanted to go out she noticed there was someone in their yard and shouted at them but the person left and they didn’t notice anything strange.
“I am Old Apostolic so every year we have our big sealing service and for some reason I just decided that I am not going with my children to church. When they left, my door and windows was open all morning and I was doing what I am supposed to do as a mother,” says Alana.
“I stay next to the R300 and two guys called me and said ‘aunty come see here’ and I asked ‘why’ and they said ‘here is a baby’.
“When I went to look, I saw this tiny little thing laying there naked, like when you give birth. I picked her up and she lifted her arm, I asked the neighbour for baby blankets and covered her.”
“When I got to her she was not crying and her body was cold like when you take meat out of a fridge. I started speaking to her and she made a crying sound. I brought her inside the house and called the police and ambulance.”
Police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Pojie confirms the baby’s 40-year-old mother has been arrested by Kuils River SAPS, who are investigating a case of child neglect and attempted murder.
“The members followed up on information of a woman and a young boy who were seen in their yard at about 5:30am this morning. They eventually arrested the 40-year-old mother of the baby who will appear in the Blue Downs Magistrates’ court, once charged. The baby was admitted at a hospital facility for medical attention.”
Alana named the baby ‘Waleetha’ and says when she left the infant at the hospital, the medical team was fighting to get her temperature up and placed her on a drip.
She is appealing for any assistance like nappies, formula, blankets and clothes for Waleetha to be dropped off at Kuilsrivier Police Station.
marsha.dean@inl.co.za