Couple arrested after baby abandoned at bus stop

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Published Apr 22, 2021

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Cape Town - A couple who allegedly abandoned their baby under a tree near a bus stop has been arrested and is set to appear at the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Friday on charges of child abandonment.

Police spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana confirmed: “Two suspects aged 20 and 23, male and female respectively, were arrested in the early hours of this morning (Wednesday). The child is still with the social workers.”

The couple allegedly dumped the baby near a MyCiTi bus stop in Montague Gardens on Monday evening.

Police were alerted by a passer-by and found the little girl.

A source says at around 7pm, police were alerted about a couple who dropped the baby under a tree near a MyCiTi bus stop.

The couple then walked in the direction of Joe Slovo township, leaving the infant behind.

Police responded swiftly and took the little girl, dressed in a pink and white striped dress and long sleeved pink T-shirt, to the station before handing her over to members of Social Development.

“She is such a lovely child, healthy and quiet,” says the source.

Joshua Chigome, spokesman for the provincial Department of Social Development, says: “The feedback received from the Child Death Review Panel is that dumping babies seems primarily linked to perinatal mental health challenges such as post-partum depression and psychosis, and women who have poor support systems are most at risk.

“There are NGOs that offer dropboxes for babies, although this is a grey area because some believe it facilitates child abandonment, which is a criminal offence.”

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