Woman kills newborn with scissors

A Tsumeb woman has been arrested for killing her new-born baby boy with a pair of scissors. She stabbed the baby 26 times shortly after giving birth in a toilet on Monday and is now under police guard at the town’s State hospital.

The unidentified woman, 24, who will appear in court after she is discharged from hospital, managed to hide the pregnancy from her father, boyfriend and neighbours and carried a full-term pregnancy.

Some of the neighbours claim she allegedly feared disappointing her father, an ambulance driver, and her boyfriend.

The woman and her father live in a complex with 50 other tenants, who share the ablution facilities and she reportedly killed her baby in one of the lockable toilets.

A witness said the mother showed signs of being in pain at midnight on Sunday.
Neighbours called her father but when he when he wanted to take her for a medical check up, she declined.

On the fateful night, at 03:00, the pregnant mother, armed with scissors, two blankets and one bag locked herself in the toilet and gave birth. A neighbour, who wanted to use the toilet, got the fright of her life when she heard a baby screaming before the sounds died down.

The neighbour then alerted her husband saying she feared there was a ghost in the bathroom. But instead, they found the woman seated in a pool of blood and the dead baby in a bag.

They called the police and notified the woman’s father, who rushed to the scene. The woman was taken to hospital by ambulance.

“I suspect she knew what she was doing as she knew where to cut the umbilical cord. However, she suffered loss of blood that also led to her weakness. There was blood splattered all over the cubicle,” said the neighbour.

The woman’s father, who declined to be identified, said the family is still reeling from shock.

“I asked repeatedly if she was pregnant but she denied it. I would have accepted the baby as my grandchild. I have been crying every day since my daughter’s arrest and grandchild’s death. What has befallen us is hard to express but we still love our daughter,” he said.

The baby will be buried over the weekend.