|
?:reviewBody
|
-
On 19 December 2016, the South African local newspaper Kathorus Mail posted a report about a baby who died when her mother left her alone overnight while she was at a tavern: The story was inevitably picked up by tabloids and other publications who focused on its gruesome twist, repeating the claim that the baby was eaten by rats and cherry-picking or fabricating information to support it. But while a South African infant did die after being abandoned overnight by her mother in December 2016, it's unclear whether she was attacked by rats and also unclear if the mother was out partying when the baby died. The incident happened in the township of Katlehong, which is south of Johannesburg. According to Kathorus Mail, it was neighbors who alleged the child was attacked by rats, though another neighbor insinuated the child may have been badly abused, not eaten by rats. We have contacted South African police about the incident. The girl's mother was not named in the report, identified only as a 26-year-old who had twins, a boy and a girl. She reportedly took the boy along with her to the bar on 16 December 2016, but left the girl alone at home. The paper reported that a friend of the woman, Mamokete Matlala, saw her at the bar and forced her to leave the establishment when she realized the mother only had one of her children with her and had abandoned the other: Neighbor Dunyiswa Xhashwe told the paper she didn't believe it was rats who killed the infant: When the Kathorus Mail reporter went to the bar where the mother was allegedly drinking, the owner and a patron both denied seeing a woman who matched her description on the night in question. The paper reports the mother has been arrested for child neglect and expects to make a court appearance soon.
(en)
|
![[This page as RDF]](http://data.gesis.org/claimskg/static/rdf-icon.gif){kind=icon}