Cape Town - Abigail Ruiters, the mother of 18-month-old Jeremiah Ruiters, the boy who was raped and murdered, has been allowed to go back to her Factreton home following an amendment to her bail conditions.
Ruiters, who is on trial for abuse and neglect, was granted R2000 bail in November last year.
The bail application for her and her boyfriend who is accused of raping, beating and killing Jeremiah, took about six months.
Jeremiah died on June12, 2017, as a result of a blunt force trauma to his spine, a cracked skull, broken ribs and bite marks all over his body, including his face and genitals.
On Wednesday, Ruiters’ defence advocate, Yasmin Rajab, applied for her bail conditions to be relaxed.
She told the court her client was banned from living in Factreton since Jeremiah’s death and moved to live with someone who was not a relative, in Elsies River.
“All witnesses who live there have testified, therefore the accused can’t influence or intimidate them.
“The request was from her mother.
“Travel costs to court are expensive for her. Her mother has undertaken to finance her and bear the costs of travelling to court,” she said.
The order was granted, but other bail conditions, such as not being allowed to see her remaining two children, remain unchanged.
Earlier the Western Cape High Court continued with the cross-examination of Wesley Timm the father of Abigail’s children.