Alleged baby basher quits bail bid

04/03/2015. Alexander Forba leaving the courtroom at the Pretoria Magistrate abandoning his bail application. He faces charges of murder and assault after assaulting his partner with their 2-day-old baby daughter. The baby died two days after the incident. Picture: Oupa Mokoena

04/03/2015. Alexander Forba leaving the courtroom at the Pretoria Magistrate abandoning his bail application. He faces charges of murder and assault after assaulting his partner with their 2-day-old baby daughter. The baby died two days after the incident. Picture: Oupa Mokoena

Published Mar 5, 2015

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Pretoria - The man accused of using a 2-day-old baby as a weapon while fighting with his live-in lover, on Wednesday abandoned his bail application.

Alexander Nde Forba, 32, a Cameroonian, faces a charge of murdering the infant girl after he allegedly used her as a club to batter his partner, the child’s mother, during an argument.

Forba was expected to appear for a bail application on Wednesday, but decided to withdraw his application. He faces a charge of murder and assault.

The case was moved from Kgosi Mampuru II correctional facility to the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court for Wednesday’s appearance because of the interest it had gained.

Forba’s lawyer Bronwinn Marshall objected to the application made by media houses to have her client’s picture taken and published, but magistrate Desmond Nair overruled it.

Marshall said Forba feared victimisation and retribution if his picture was made public.

The mother, who had given birth on February 12, was discharged from Kalafong Hospital on February 14 and went back to the flat the couple share with three other families at Nicolas Heights in Pretoria West.

Forba is said to have come home in the early hours of the Sunday morning drunk and started arguing with the baby’s mother over its paternity.

The court heard that he allegedly assaulted the mother, then followed her to the nearby fuel station where he pulled the baby from the mother’s back and used her as an instrument.

The baby was rushed to Kalafong Hospital vomiting, but later died from her injuries. The mother has been under constant supervision and is receiving counselling.

Prosecutor Sipho Letsoalo asked for the matter to be postponed to April 13

: “We still need the post-mortem report and footage from the garage and statements from witnesses.”

The Star

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