Johannesburg - The trial of two Ekurhuleni parents accused of abusing their infant child to the point of disability has been set down for Monday.
The parents, who cannot be identified to protect the identity of the child, were charged with trying to shake the life out of baby Christina*, hanging her out of a window of their apartment, 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 in the baby’s skull, leaving her with vision problems that she might never recover from.
Christina was born on July 9, 2013, about two months premature. It was a difficult birth for her mother June*, who claimed the pregnancy was unplanned but that she and her boyfriend, Theuns*, were going to make a go of it.
According to an affidavit submitted by June to the high court in Pretoria, Christina suffered from respiratory problems and was discharged from intensive care 40 days after her birth. The affidavit was submitted in a failed bid to regain custody of the child.
June told the court that the first few months of her baby’s life were plagued by various illnesses, prompting numerous visits to doctors to treat the sickly infant. When one of the doctors noticed a bruise on Christina’s left eye, the couple claimed it was from trying to apply eye ointment to treat the baby’s perpetually swollen eye.
It was just one of the many injuries the baby would sustain.
In mid-September 2013, a neighbour believed that Christina’s inconsolable crying and malnourished appearance needed to be investigated, and after offering to babysit for a short while, she took her to a doctor for a thorough examination.
While June insisted in her affidavit that this was tantamount to abduction, the examination and a telephonic complaint led to the first visit from a team of social workers to determine if Christina was safe with her parents.
A team from the Christian Social Council of Germiston arrived at June’s home after recording claims that Theuns had been abusing Christina. It was only after a CT scan ordered by the social workers that the extent of Christina’s injuries became known.
While the trial was originally scheduled to start in October 2014, the case has seen lengthy delays by applications for June to be examined at a mental health facility to determine if she is psychologically fit for trial.
It’s understood the examination has been conducted, with the trial set to continue in the Germiston Magistrate’s Court.
Baby Christina is in the custody of her grandparents.
* Not their real names
The Star