Johannesburg - A defence lawyer representing one of the parents accused of abusing their infant to the point of disability has implied that the child sustained her extensive injuries while in the care of social workers.
June* and Theuns*, who can’t be named to protect the child’s identity, were charged with trying to shake the life out of Baby Christina*, hanging her out of a window of their flat, suffocating her with a pillow and nearly drowning her in a bath of water. The alleged abuse resulted in broken legs, ribs and a fracture of her skull, leaving her with vision problems (septo-optic dysplasia) that she may never recover from.
On Monday, the parents’ trial began at the Germiston Magistrate’s Court, with a social worker who initially went to the family’s home to investigate the abuse claims taking the stand.
Zandile Simelane, who works at the Christian Social Council of Germiston, said she and a colleague visited the couple’s home on September 18, 2013 when Christina was just over two months old. Simelane said they were accompanied by one of the couple’s neighbours, known only as Wanda, who took them to June.
Inside, June and Wanda both claimed that Theuns had once dangled the infant out of a window and threatened to drop her.
According to Simelane, June was also open with information of how Theuns had tried to suffocate the child with a pillow during one of her crying spells.
Simelane also noted that Christina had a bruise-like mark on her temple. June explained to the social workers that the baby had an eye infection, and when Theuns had held the baby’s head still to apply ointment, he had pushed too hard on her head, leaving a mark.
Simelane said the child was immediately taken from the scene for a medical examination and eventually to a place of safety.
However, June’s lawyer, Nardus Grové, argued that Simelane’s written statement to police had failed to acknowledge the allegations that Theuns had held the baby out of a window, and the only injury noted by the social worker was the mark on the child’s temple.
He also put it to Simelane that the couple had taken the child to a hospital for her eye infection the day before the social workers’ visits, and that the examining doctor had seen no injuries on the child.
He then asked the court how Christina, who has since been away from her parents’ care, sustained the injuries that were later discovered through X-rays, if none were detected the day before she was taken into safety.
It was Theuns’s lawyer, Mandla Ntsuntshe, who also criticised the social workers’ conduct and investigation that day, as the pair had not identified themselves as social workers when they first arrived.
June had believed that the pair were simply friends of Wanda.
He said the information the pair had received from June that day could thus not be seen as legitimate.
On Monday, the lawyer representing Christina, Charl Albisini, told The Star that the infant had finally started walking recently, and was slowly recovering. “She’s being well taken care of now,” he said.
The trial continues on Monday.
* Not their real names
The Star