16-year-old girl arrested for dumping her newborn baby inside pit toilet

Authorities in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa have recovered body of a newborn baby dumped inside a pit latrine by a 16-year-old mother. 

IPSS Rescue responded together with the Umhlali South African Police Service (SAPS) K9 Search and Rescue unit after receiving reports that a baby was dumped inside the two-metre-deep toilet in Maphumulo on Friday, January 5, 2024.

According to the emergency responders, the teenage girl hid the baby inside a packet after giving birth and threw the baby down the abandoned pit latrine in the iLembe District. 

“Reports from the scene indicate that a 16-year-old female allegedly concealed the birth of a baby and disposed of it in a 2-metre-deep abandoned pit latrine in a neighbour’s yard after placing it in a plastic packet,” IPSS Rescue says. 

“The packet containing the newborn’s body was successfully retrieved from the pit latrine,” 

According to the Maphumulo Local Municipality, the area is predominantly rural. 

The police recovered the baby’s body as part of their investigation and arrested the teenager and her mother. 

Spokesperson of the South African Police Service (SAPS) officials in Maphumulo, KZN, Colonel Robert Netshiunda, who confirmed the incident on Saturday, said they are investigating a case of concealment of birth.