Durban - Legal expert advocate Mpumelelo Zikalala said the Ballito woman, 45, who allegedly drowned her four-year-old daughter in a bucket of water, must be sent for mental evaluation.
Zikalala told the Daily News there was a high possibility the State would want to have her checked mentally to determine whether she was able to differentiate between wrong and right before prosecuting her.
He said that should the woman stand trial and be found guilty, she was likely to get a lengthy sentence, possibly life.
“The State would definitely want her mental state to be checked. Killing a child especially of this age is not treated as a simple murder … If she is found to be mentally fit and found guilty I have no doubt this will happen (receive a life sentence).”
The incident that has left many shocked took place in the posh suburb of Ballito, north of Durban, this week.
After entering a courtoom at the KwaDukuza Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, the woman looked confused as she entered the dock. She stood still, always nodding, indicating that she understood what magistrate Blanche van Eeden was saying.
There were no family members or relatives, only the woman’s attorney, Alistair Janssens, in court.
He objected to the media filming or photographing the woman to protect her surviving 10-year-old child. The defence said the other child lived with his biological father.
The paper learnt that the father of the dead child is working in the US.
State prosecutor Paul Nel asked for a postponement, saying the State would want a DNA test to be conducted.
The accused wasn’t asked to plead and the case was postponed to May 5 for a bail investigation.
The magistrate indicated that the case might be moved to the high court.
According to police, the woman allegedly confessed to killing her child and said the child had been “difficult” and had been troubling her.
The Daily News also learnt that the mother allegedly tried to kill herself with tablets after realising the child was no longer moving. She was said to have gone to her neighbours to inform them and they had contacted police.
Police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said Umhlali police received a complaint, but when arriving at the said address, police found the mother, who allegedly confessed to killing the child.
Ngcobo said that both the child’s hands were tied with tape and the child was certified dead at the scene.
Child rights activist Joan van Niekerk described the incident as an “extremely sad situation”. She said what needed to be done was to establish the circumstances surrounding the mother's apparent behaviour.
“Of course, there needs to be an appropriate sentence, if she's not mentally ill and if she is found guilty,” Van Niekerk said. | Additional Reporting by Thobeka Ngema
Daily News