Cape Town - A couple from Pretoria will be spending the next 14 years behind bars after beating their six-month-old daughter to a pulp, the Pretoria High Court has ordered.
The child has been left with broken ribs, a broken collar bone, and broken legs.
This comes after AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit assisted doctors in opening a criminal case after the first reported case was closed due to a lack of evidence.
The parents, who denied all allegations against them in court, were convicted of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm and child neglect.
Charges against the couple were filed on July 24, 2020, and they were subsequently sentenced last week.
According to information before the court, the child was first admitted to a hospital in Pretoria in April 2020 with injuries consistent with child abuse.
She was only five weeks old at the time.
Doctors and a private social worker immediately filed a complaint with police and the department of social development after it was found the child’s ribs were fractured in 15 places.
While police initially investigated the matter and the child was put into a place of safety, the child was soon placed back into the care of her parents, and police informed doctors the case was closed due to ‘lack of evidence’.
About three months later, on July 1, 2020, the child was again admitted to hospital.
She had contracted pneumonia, shock and suffered from dehydration.
According to AfriForum, at the time, the child weighed less than what was normal for an infant her age. She was also described as ‘ravenously hungry’.
As doctors conducted further tests, it was found her collarbone had been fractured two to three weeks before she was admitted to hospital.
An MRI scan further showed injuries which were probably caused by the child being violently shaken.
Both her femurs were broken, and several fractured ribs were still visible.
The organisation said doctors who examined her were in agreement that the injuries the child sustained were likely the result of repeated abuse.
Doctors took a stance and approached the organisation’s Private Prosecution Unit, and its investigators took comprehensive statements from all concerned parties and compiled a docket which was presented to police.
A second case against the child’s parents was opened.
The couple was subsequently arrested, and the matter was taken to court.
Evidence collected and placed before the court revealed the child had sustained 31 bone fractures between March 2020 and July 2020.
“The offences committed are so serious that a harsh sentence should be imposed. In my view, direct imprisonment is unavoidable.
“She was defenceless and unable to protect herself. She depended on the love, affection, and protection of her parents.
“Instead of that, her ribs were fractured, the femur was fractured, and she sustained a bruise on her chin and pre-vertebral soft tissue swelling of her neck. She was grossly underfed,” Judge Hennie de Vos said during his judgment.
Barry Bateman, a spokesperson for the Private Prosecution Unit, lauded doctors and social workers who stood up and spoke up when they saw this child suffering.
“Without the intervention of the doctors and other professionals, this baby might have died at the hands of her parents.
“Child abuse and neglect are among the many scourges facing the most vulnerable in society.
“We need medical professionals and caregivers who encounter such instances to take a stand, as is required of them by law.
“We compliment the prosecutor for her professional and competent prosecution.
“The same cannot be said for the SAPS. Without the intervention and pressure from the Private Prosecution Unit, the matter would likely have been closed, like the previous case.
“The public is continually told how the government takes violence against women and children seriously, yet we do not see this filtering through to the police on the ground,” Bateman said.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL