Mother Suspected of Tossing Newborn in Pit Toilet, Faces Mob

A grieving South African community grapples with tragedy after a baby was found dead in a pit toilet, leading to mob violence toward the suspected mother.

On Wednesday, family members cleaning a relative’s rural property in Hlangalezwe made the horror discovery — a tiny decomposed body in the deep pit latrine. The gender could not be determined due to decomposition.

Police rushed to the scene as word spread fast about the community’s youngest member discarded so cruelly. During the investigation, authorities received an urgent call that a  33-year-old woman was under attack by an angry vigilante mob convinced she murdered her newborn.

Officers sped to the confrontation, rescuing the victim from the fury of residents. It turns out the woman had “no longer appeared pregnant” according to neighbours, and then this fetus turned up near her residence.

Authorities transported the shaken woman to the station for intense questioning about the possibility she concealed birth and then disposed of her living baby in a pit toilet.

“Police at this stage believe the victim might be linked to the registered child neglect case that was registered where the baby was found”

The horrific case remains under investigation.

 Provincial commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant Gen Daphney Manamela stated that even mothers overwhelmed with unwanted pregnancies must find humane solutions like adoption. “Depriving helpless babies of life this way is unacceptable,” Manamela added. For now, a community struggles to find justice, explanations and reconciliation after such a nauseating loss.