Johannesburg - The behaviour of a man who allegedly grabbed his two-day-old baby by her feet and used her as a weapon to batter his partner was that of a psychopath.
Miranda Jordan Friedmann, of Women And Men Against Child Abuse, said the man could have picked up anything to hit the mother with.
Instead, he used his own baby just as how one would use a knife, a club or a stick to commit the crime.
“We are looking at psychopathic behaviour here.”
Friedmann was responding to allegations that a Pretoria West man beat his partner in the early hours of Sunday, using their newborn baby as a club.
It is alleged that the man was arguing with his partner when he grabbed the baby by the ankles, swung her around and hit the mother with her.
In another case, a 28-year-old Mogwase, Rustenburg, man appeared in court recently for allegedly killing his six-month-old baby by throwing him on the ground.
He was arguing with his girlfriend for wearing a miniskirt when he allegedly killed the baby in a fit of rage.
Friedmann said that in both cases, the men had used the children to punish the mothers in the most extreme way.
“Their actions show a huge amount anger, lack of impulsive control and no empathy. It is abominable cruelty,”
she added.
Community psychologist Dr Ingrid Matlwa
agreed with Friedmann, saying “some people are damaged beyond repair”.
The Star