The grandmother of a four-month-old baby who was allegedly abused by her daughter and the child’s father told the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, that her daughter sounded very afraid when she called for help, as the baby struggled to breathe.

According to the witness, who cannot be identified to safeguard the identity of the now nearly five-year-old, her daughter called her on October 25, 2020, when the baby was barely four months old, to urgently come and assist her with the child.

It was later discovered that the baby, only identified as Baby M, had numerous fractures, some of which were very old.

According to the prosecution, the couple – the biological parents of the boy – had abused him since birth.

The couple, however, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and child abuse. Apart from offering a bare denial, they did not offer an explanation of the plea and said the prosecution had to prove its case against them.

The child was removed from the care of the parents shortly after landing in hospital for several weeks in 2020.

The grandmother testified that her daughter was scared of her boyfriend, and she asked them to hurry. When they got to the flat in Sunnyside where the couple lived, they found the baby in his crib. He appeared to have broken ribs as well as bruises on his face.

The court was told that they had rushed him to the Pretoria West Hospital, where he remained for several weeks. The couple was subsequently arrested.

A doctor who saw the child stated to the police at the time that he recorded that Baby M had multiple bruises on his face and upper body, which were brown, indicative that they were older injuries.

He also had a swollen and painful right leg, which was later confirmed as being broken. The baby also had three broken ribs. There was an older-looking laceration behind the baby’s right ear, which was already forming scars on the edges. In general, the doctor noted, the baby seemed lethargic and in respiratory distress.

While the grandmother of the baby claimed that her daughter was afraid of her boyfriend, the latter told another witness that she (the child’s mother) always blamed him as being the aggressor, but this was not true.

According to the boyfriend, she would hurt herself and then “start shouting” that he had assaulted her. He also told the friend that before October 2020, when she phoned her family to come and help with the child, he had noted that the baby had some broken ribs. But, according to the father, he tried to take the child to three different hospitals, but no one was prepared to help them, as it was during Covid.

Another witness, meanwhile, told the court that the couple was using drugs, especially crystal meth. Although the court was told that the woman feared the father of her child, the couple seemed very close in court on Wednesday, as they sat huddled together in the dock and whispered into each other’s ears.

Meanwhile, a doctor is expected to be called later this week to testify in detail about the baby’s injuries and what could have caused them.

Proceeding.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za

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