Durban - Patricia Ishwarlal, 31, did not get to see the face of her daughter Jamie Naidoo for the last time as the three-year-old was being buried in Chatsworth on Thursday.
More than 1 000 community members gathered at the Havenside Hall to pay their last respects to Jamie.
Ishwarlal and her mother, Salatchee Basanich, 55, are being held at Westville Prison for allegedly beating the toddler to death last week.
The pair could face further charges of neglect, ill-treatment and rape after a post-mortem revealed that the toddler might have been penetrated just hours before her death.
No one from the immediate maternal family attended the funeral and her three siblings were brought in briefly to see Jamie, then taken back to a children’s home where they are staying.
Distraught father Demitri van Vuuren, 29, from Cape Town, was inconsolable after viewing the toddler’s body. He had not seen his first-born in two years after a dispute with Ishwarlal, and had just come out of prison for drug possession when he found out about Jamie’s death.
Vivian van Vuuren said his son was filled with anger and hurt, as were the rest of the family.
“We tried to adopt her (Jamie) two years ago after we found out that the circumstances at the home were not good, but we were denied and the government placed her in the care of her maternal grandmother.
“It really broke my heart to find out that community members tried to get the officials to intervene, but nothing happened,” he said.
They were going to appeal for her adoption in February next year, but now would fight to get custody of Isabella, 2, who is also Demitri’s child with Ishwarlal.
KwaZulu-Natal’s MEC for Social Development, Weziwe Thusi, was among the government officials who attended the funeral.
“I’m sad, angry and ashamed that this happened on our watch, because I have heard that community members reported the suspected abuse to social workers. The investigation is under way to make sure that everyone who failed Jamie is held accountable,” she said.
Ishwarlal’s cousin, Kuben Naidoo, said both Jamie’s parents had a drug problem and the mother had previously tried to sell the child for R100.
“They have brought shame upon this family,” he said.
Mohamed Shah called on the community to stand together and fight for other abused children.
“Baby Jamie might be silent, but in her silence she speaks. She says, ‘I had to die to find peace.’ Let’s not allow other children to suffer the same fate,” he said.
Jamie’s mother and grandmother will appear in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court for their bail application on December 4. The community and local organisations are expected to picket outside the court as they did on Monday for the first appearance.
The Mercury