Africa-Press – South-Africa. A 26-year-old mother from Mpumalanga has admitted to stabbing her baby with a pair of scissors shortly after giving birth.
The Mpumalanga High Court convicted and sentenced Phindile Sibiya to a 22-year prison term after she was found guilty of murder and defeating the ends of justice on Wednesday.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Sibiya pleaded guilty to intentionally murdering own child and burying her in a shallow grave.
In her plea statement, Sibiya told the court in 2021 she met a man who visited her homestead in Belfast. The two became romantically involved and he proposed his love to her. He also promised to marry her in the future.
On their second meeting, Sibiya and the unnamed man had consensual unprotected sex.
After realising she was pregnant, she tried calling the would-be-father to inform him of the situation, but his phone was no longer in service.
\She also denied she was pregnant after her mother realised that she was.
“The mother threatened her that should it be true that she was pregnant, she was going to chase her away from the house, as she already had two minor kids from different fathers who were not supporting the children,” NPA spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said.
Sibiya then went to a clinic to terminate the pregnancy but was unsuccessful as she was already in the last stages of pregnancy.
On 1 January 2022, she went into labour.
“She felt labour pains and went to the toilet on two occasions where she passed urine and on the third occasion, she then took a pair of scissors with her.
“On her way to the toilet, she knelt and gave birth to a female child whom she immediately stabbed with scissors several times until she died,” Nyuswa said.
The following morning, Sibiya’s mother noticed blood stains and started questioning her. She then admitted to her mother she had given birth and concealed the dead child.
“She then went to retrieve the deceased body and the matter was reported to the police, hence her conviction and sentence.”
In aggravation of sentence, the State led evidence the child suffered a cold and painful death at the hands of the very person who was supposed to protect her.
“A photo album and a post-mortem report which confirmed that the deceased was born alive, were handed in, including a social work report which proved that the accused is not a candidate for correctional supervision,” Nyuswa said.
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