Police in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal state capital, on Tuesday arrested a 19-year-old woman accused of throwing her newborn in a pit latrine.
The state deputy police commissioner Major General James Simon told Radio Tamazuj that after getting information, the police moved in quickly to rescue the baby and arrest the mother in the Masna Talib area.
“We received information that a newborn child was dumped in a latrine in the Masna Talib area. We sent in the police under Col. Peter Manyang. They were able to remove the baby out from the latrine which was about four meters in depth,” Maj. Gen. Simon said. “The baby is currently at Wau Teaching Hospital. The baby’s mother is called Akuei Wac Wel. According to what we have gathered she committed this crime because of a family-related dispute.”
The police official said both the mother and child are at the Wau Teaching Hospital and that a case has been opened against Akuei Wac Wel, the baby’s mother.
“We have filed a court case against the mother and if she is discharged from the hospital, we will take her to court to be accountable,” he stated.
The baby is said to be in good health, although Radio Tamazuj could not reach the hospital for comment.
When contacted, Akuei’s family members said they were disappointed by her actions.
Akuei’s mother, Elizabeth Ameth, said her daughter hid the pregnancy and when asked, she denied being pregnant.
“My daughter come recently from Cueibet in March with her pregnancy. When I asked her, she denied that she was pregnant. But yesterday morning, my other daughter went to Masna and came back with information that her sister had thrown the baby in a pit latrine,” she said.
According to Ameth, her daughter had informed them that the man who impregnated her had denied the pregnancy prompting her to take the action.
She regretted the action and advised young pregnant girls from repeating what her daughter did.