File
The Pretoria High Court has found two parents guilty of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and child neglect.
The organisation, Afriforum said it welcomed Tuesday’s judgment by Judge Hennie de Vos, who convicted the couple for abusing their baby from the age of five weeks in March until July 2020.
AfriForum said its Private Prosecution Unit had a watching brief in the matter and assisted the plaintiffs in the case with the laying of criminal charges at the SAPS.
“The ruling comes after the unit assisted two doctors and a social worker in July 2020 in laying criminal charges of child abuse against the parents of a five-month-old baby,” said Advocate Phyllis Vorster, a prosecutor at AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit.
She said doctors at the hospital where the child was treated lodged complaints of child abuse against the parents with the police when the baby was only five weeks old.
“Although the police initially investigated the case and arrested the father of the victim, the matter was withdrawn by the prosecutor two months later due to a lack of evidence,” she said.
Advocate Vorster said the baby was in a critical condition and was admitted to Eugene Marais Hospital on 1 July 2020 with pneumonia, shock, and dehydration.
Detailing the child’s horrific injuries, Vorster said the child had suffered a fractured collarbone which, according to the doctors, would have required excessive force.
“Both of her femurs were broken, and the signs of several fractured ribs were still visible. The judge concluded in his judgment that the baby sustained 31 fractures on assaults that occurred on at least five occasions,” Vorster said.
She said the court accepted the testimonies of all the doctors and rejected the versions of both accused.
Sentencing will take place on 6 and 7 December 2021.
