Johannesburg - The bail application of a woman, accused of attempted murder and child abuse along with her husband, will continue in the Springs Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old mother of five wearing a grey and black hooded top appeared before magistrate Bennita Oswell on Tuesday.
The unemployed woman from Springs, described by her lawyer Isabella van Eck as “a person who cannot read or write”, allegedly subjected her children to filthy living conditions and repeated beatings.
She faces charges of child abuse, attempted murder, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and defeating the ends of justice.
She was arrested last week, a month after her husband was held for the same alleged crimes.
He faces an additional charge of raping her. Van Eck said her client now denies her husband raped her.
The couple's names are being withheld to protect the identities of their children, aged 16, 11, 3, two and one. Van Eck told the court her client felt police intimidated her during their investigations.
Investigating officer Warrant Officer Rudi Jansen denied this. He said she had “an indifferent relationship with her children”. She was living in a caravan at the house of her in-laws when she was arrested.
The woman initially co-operated with police, but her attitude changed when she moved from her sister to her husband's family, Jansen said.
Sapa