The bodies of a three babies were found in shallow graves at the back of a house in Kagiso township on the West Rand on Tuesday, police reported.
Police representative Captain Paula Nothnagel said the bodies were found after members of the West Rand child protection unit, acting on information received from the community, confronted a 33-year-old woman at the Eagle Street house.
Nothnagel said the woman initially told police the children went missing in 1997. However, upon further interrogation she admitted they were buried in the garden and pointed out the graves. Two bodies were recovered around 1pm at the first grave and the remains of the third toddler were excavated later in the day at the
site of another grave. Children’s clothing were also recovered.
The woman, who admitted the remains were that of her three children, was arrested for concealment of birth because the babies were not registered with the Department of Home Affairs.
Nothnagel said the woman would appear in the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. Post mortems would be conducted to determine the cause of the
children’s’ deaths as well as their ages, while an inquest docket was also opened.
Nothnagel said the woman’s other five children, aged eight, 10, 13, 16 and two months, were taken to a place of safety. They were at school at the time of her arrest.
The five were malnourished, thin and neglected, Nothnagel said. Asked about the woman’s mental state, she described her as ”fine”, saying the house was ordinary, well furnished and maintained, and had burglar bars on the windows.
”The house from outside and inside is a home, no-one would never believe what we found in the premises.”
Nothnagel said the woman’s husband died in 1992 and she was employed at the local post office. – Sapa