The police in Western Bahr el Ghazal’s Wau town said they arrested a 30-year-old woman on Sunday for allegedly throwing her one-day-old baby into a nine-meter pit.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Monday, the state Police Commissioner Major General Samuel Ajuong said the incident happened on Friday night in Aweil Jedid residential area within Wau town.
“On the 9th, a woman threw her baby into a pit and the residents managed to rescue the baby. the baby is now alive,” Gen. Ajuong said. “The mother has been arrested and for us as police, we will investigate the person who committed the crime.”
According to him, the act could have been triggered by economic challenges facing the woman’s family.
“These are social problems and you all know that these are social problems related to the economy in the family which always result in such problems,” he added.
Dr. James Angelo Marcello, a pediatric doctor at the Wau Teaching Hospital confirmed that the child was stable and responding to treatment.
“The child is in good condition without a problem. Our doctors did not hesitate, they have done enough and what is remaining now is an x-ray because the child was dumped into a pit of nine meters. An x-ray is needed to determine any fractures but the treatment is going well,” he said.
This is the second case of such nature in Wau. In July a 19-year-old mother identified as Akuei Wac Wel was arrested in the Masna Talib area for throwing her baby in a pit latrine claiming that the baby’s father had denied the pregnancy.