Pregnant mother pleads guilty to killing previous baby

Lebogang Mosikare | Wednesday July 8, 2015 15:41

Tonto, who is heavily pregnant at the moment, is alleged to have drunk a concoction and prematurely delivered a baby whom she dumped next to a toilet on February 25, 2011 in Selebi-Phikwe.

Tonto pleaded guilty to a single count of infanticide before Justice Barnabas Nyamadzabo. She had previously been charged with murder.

According to the facts of the matter, in 2011 Tonto was living with a boyfriend who had impregnated her. After falling pregnant, the boyfriend allegedly kicked her out of the house they were living together in and told her that he no longer wanted her because he had found a new ‘better’ girlfriend.

Tonto testified that she told her elder sister about her predicament to no avail.

“Tonto then sought help from a friend who told her to meet a man who would help her terminate her pregnancy. The man gave her a concoction that she drank and after some days she experienced abdominal pains and later gave birth before her due date,” said prosecutor, Bathusi Brown.

“She gave birth prematurely, put the child in a plastic bag and placed it next to a toilet.

“The child was later discovered by neighbours, but it later died at the hospital.”

Nyamadzabo said he was satisfied that the accused had admitted to all essential elements of the charge and he found her guilty as charged.

In mitigation, Tonto’s attorney, Kakanyo Mokwena said the mitigating factors in the case far outweighed aggravating factors, even though loss of life should never be treated lightly.

“I submit that this is a very unfortunate offence to say the least. The offence is unfortunate in the sense that she was forced by circumstances beyond her control to end up killing her child whom society expected her to protect,” said Mokwena.

The lawyer said Tonto was devastated when she was jilted for another woman and left abandoned during a pregnancy by the person she had hoped would be her ‘shoulder to cry on’.

He said Tonto’s boyfriend denied paternity and the young woman did not know how she would take care of the child.

“At six months she needed financial and emotional support from her lover. It must be appreciated that the accused depended wholly on her boyfriend for all her needs. The decision by the boyfriend to kick her out of the house destroyed her. Facts show that she was deeply in stress and dejected when she committed the offence,” said Mokwena.

Mokwena added: “What Tonto did was not legally proper, but she deserves sympathy from the court since she found herself in an unenviable situation and also pleaded guilty which is a sign of remorse on her part.

“At the time of the offence, she was 23-years-old and not mentally mature to properly handle the situation she was faced with.”

The lawyer further said it would not be in society’s best interests to send Tonto to give birth in jail. He pleaded, rather for a suspended sentence for his client, ‘to mend her’.