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The parents of a little baby girl who was hospitalised twice due to abuse will go on trial in the North Gauteng High Court in July 2021.
They were arrested in August this year after AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit assisted doctors and a social worker in July to lay criminal charges.
The baby, now eight months old, is currently in safe custody while her parents’ trial will start on 19 July.
The baby was admitted to a Pretoria hospital in July with several fractures, which according to doctors had happened on different occasions, and other injuries consistent with child abuse.
“Prior to this, she was admitted to the same hospital in April 2020, when she was five weeks old, also with injuries consistent with child abuse,” said Phyllis Vorster, a prosecutor
with Afriforum’s Private Prosecutions Unit.
She said her doctors and a private social worker then opened a case at the Department of Social Development and suggested that the baby be removed from her parents’ care.
However, Vorster said that the case was thrown out due to a lack of evidence, according to the Magistrate. “The baby was temporarily placed in her grandmother’s care, but afterwards returned to her parents,” she said.
Vorster said that the move to the High Court was a positive shift, “as it seems the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is now taking active steps to ensure the case receives the necessary attention.”
However, she said it was “tragic” that the system had forsaken an innocent child in the first place and allowed her to returned to a life-threatening environment earlier this year.
The Centre for Child Law earlier also called on the Department of Social Development to investigate how a 6-month-old baby fell through the cracks after she was twice admitted to a hospital with severe injuries.
The parents are out on bail.
