Johannesburg -
Two foetuses were found dumped in refuse bins in Joburg on Freedom Day.
The first, found in Hillbrow at about 3pm yesterday, was wrapped in a white grocery bag, full of blood.
The fully developed foetus, which was possibly aborted, was discovered on the corner of Fife Avenue and Olivia Road.
“A vagrant was looking in the bin for something to eat when he came across the plastic bag. In it was the foetus and a lot of blood,” said Constable Thabo Malatji, spokesman for the SAPS’s Hillbrow cluster.
The vagrant screamed and someone called the police.
“A concealment of death docket was opened, but there are no suspects as yet,” the constable said.
According to him, the foetus was possibly aborted at the latest stage of pregnancy. Police are investigating.
Another foetus was found in Empire Road, Parktown.
A docket of concealment of birth has been registered and the case is being investigated by Hillbrow police station after it received a complaint.
“When police arrived at the scene, a foetus wrapped in a plastic bag was found next to a bin. No arrest has been made,”
Malatji said.
The foetus was also fully developed.
These instances are similar to the case of a foetus found on a rubbish heap in September.
A man looking through a refuse bin in Witpoortjie, Roodepoort, found a foetus wrapped in plastic.
Malatji pointed out that the baby appeared to have been born prematurely, and that the umbilical cord was still attached.
Other cases
- April 2014: The body of an infant was found in a refuse bin in Bothma Street, Honeydew.
- March 2013: A 7-day-old baby was found in a bin in Cape Town.
- July 2012: The body of a newborn was found in a litter bin in central Cape Town.
- April 2012: A newborn was found alive in a dustbin in Tableview, Cape Town.
- November 2011: A newborn baby boy was found in a bin near Pietermaritzburg.
- July 2011: A vagrant looking through a bin found a baby’s body in Umbilo, Durban.