Johannesburg - Joburg’s inner city is not the safest place at the best of times. And it proved fatal for a five-year-old, who was allegedly systematically starved, beaten and murdered by his father and his girlfriend.
Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMCA) attended court proceedings in the Johannesburg Regional Court to hear the expert evidence of GP, Dr Efrat Barnes, and described it as nothing other than a ‘’devastation of dependence’’.
The biological mother of the child has disappeared since the child was taken from her by the father, who initially claimed he found the child in a “bad” state when the boy came to live with him and his new girlfriend.
But in a subsequent twist, the father and girlfriend have now turned on each other, blaming the other for the toddler’s death and have separate lawyers.
Head of Advocacy at WMCA, Luke Lamprecht, said the pair contradicted themselves in testimony when they claimed that they had, in fact, taken the child to the doctor when they first saw his condition.
He said it was testified, through medical reports and photographs, that the boy was ‘’murdered by instalments’’. He was in the care of his stepmother and father when these acts of omission (of care and food) and acts of commission (described as torture in Barnes’evidence).
Lamprecht said while completely dependent on the care and protection of the couple, the child was allegedly burned, beaten, possibly strangled, and systematically starved over a significant period of time.
“Once he finally got medical care, he succumbed to the torture of his innocence. Ultimately, this little body gave up, and he died due to multiple organ failure. This full body failure was based on the cumulative effect of abuse and deliberate neglect. A combination of sustained starvation, which lowered his resistance, resulting in poor recovery and immunity, infection and ongoing old and new inflicted injuries on his already depleted body,” he said.
In her defence, the stepmother testified that the little boy was suffering from gastro, diarrhoea and was vomiting, lost too much fluid, and that is how he died. The father claims to know very little as he was working away from home to support the child.
“These defences are in spite of evidence that the paternal aunts asked the stepmother to stop beating the child, as he had black eyes. The stepmother then implicated the biological mother, who has not been traced. What was most striking was that the stepmother and biological father of the child looked very well nourished. In the mind's eye, one could then also only painfully add the picture of average size adults and a small 5-year-old. The child, cowering and begging for care and protection, while day after day, those who are meant to care, murdered this innocent child. His begging and cowering stopped in a permanent silence. Now they take no responsibility. They never did. Not for his life nor his death,” Lamprecht added.
Meanwhile, a director at the Teddy Bear Clinic, Dr Shaheda Omar, called the child’s alleged murder “a heinous crime committed against a powerless, defenceless, helpless child”.
“A child, whose only expectation was to be protected by his significant others. This is a classical case of purposeful neglect, where food and care was deliberately withheld, subjecting the child to hunger pangs and brutal beatings,” she said.
Omar added the death of this little boy is a crime against humanity, and no form of punishment can justify the death of this helpless and innocent child, who was robbed of his childhood in a horrific manner.
“It is unthinkable what went through the mind of this tiny child when he was repeatedly victimised by the adults who were supposed to protect him and care for him. The terror, the fear, the anxiety and pain experienced and endured by this child is unthinkable. No normal human being can inflict such pain on their own offspring. Life sentences are not enough to deter abusers from committing such heinous crimes. The bystanders should also be brought to book for not reporting it,” she said.
The case is continuing while SAPS tries to find the biological mother, who still doesn’t know her child had died. WMACA is calling for life sentences for both caregivers turned alleged killers, if they are convicted.