Durban — Police are investigating a case of concealment of birth after the discovery of a newborn baby in Verulam on Tuesday.
Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesperson Prem Balram said 18 paramedics and reaction officers were dispatched to a scene in Tea Estate, KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday morning after a baby believed to be alive was found in a bin bag.
Balram said the Rusa Operations Centre received the call for assistance at 8.34am providing a vague location off the main road approximately seven kilometres from the Verulam central business district.
“The caller informed the controller on duty that three men with five dogs were sifting through bin bags for recycling material when they discovered a baby dumped on a dirt road. They fled the area and reported the find to neighbours who immediately contacted Reaction Unit SA,” Balram said.
He said paramedics and reaction officers converged on the area and after a brief search located the scene.
“A newborn baby girl was found in a big black bag. Paramedics found that the baby was unresponsive and declared her deceased at 9.07am,” Balram said.
KZN police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said police in Verulam are investigating a case of concealment of birth following an incident in which a newborn baby was found dead in Verulam on June 25.
“It is alleged that the body of the baby was found wrapped with plastic,” Ngcobo said.
Reacting to the incident, Melanie Le Clus said: “There need to be baby drop boxes put in all police stations where these desperate young mums can safely place their unwanted babies, there are several of these overseas. These mums need to know they don’t have to dump their babies, they can be safely put into the baby drop boxes, they will be cared for and the mommies can stay anonymous.”
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