Infant girl stuffed into a maize meal bag and abandoned on train tracks

A baby wrapped in clothes

Patrolling security guards found an abandoned infant girl who had been placed on railway tracks at Belfast in Mpumalanga. Picture: SAPS

Published Nov 23, 2023

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Police in Mpumalanga are extensively searching for a woman who abandoned her infant daughter on railway tracks in Belfast.

Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said the little girl was “saved by her voice” when she frantically cried inside the maize meal bag which she had been put in before she was abandoned on the railway line.

The infant was discovered by security guards last week, according to Mohlala.

“Security personnel were patrolling the railway line in Dalmanuta, Belfast when they heard a baby crying. The security personnel's attention was drawn to the infant's voice,” said Mohlala.

Patrolling security guards found an abandoned infant girl who had been placed on railway tracks at Belfast in Mpumalanga. Picture: SAPS

On further investigation, the baby girl was found inside the maize meal bag.

Mohlala said police and paramedics were summoned to the scene where the child was stabilised and referred to a medical facility for further attention.

He said anyone who might assist in locating the baby girl's mother to please contact their nearest police station or Crime Stop on 086-001-0111, alternatively information can be sent via My SAPS App.

“All received information will be treated confidentially,” he said.

Meanwhile, provincial commissioner of police in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has condemned the act of child neglect “especially when the country is about to honour the 16 days of activism against women and children abuse and femicide”.

In August, a newborn baby was rescued by community members after she was abandoned in a sports field in Mbuzini, Mpumalanga. Photo: SAPS

In August, IOL reported that a newborn baby was rescued after she was found concealed in a plastic bag, and dumped on a sports field at Mbuzini, in Mpumalanga.

At the time, police said the shocking discovery was made by children who were playing around the sports field.

IOL