Infant found dead in Omaruru dustbin

… another suffocates under ‘drunk parents’

By Confidente Reporter

TWO infants lost their lives in the Erongo region under highly questionable circumstances over the past week. At Omaruru it came to light on Saturday that an eight-month-old baby girl named Suuko Hindjou had suffocated to death at around 03h00 that morning when she was found lifeless between her parents, who have since been arrested as the main suspects in a case of culpable homicide.

The police said that “Prior to the discovery, the neighbours allegedly observed the suspects heavily under the influence of alcohol, drinking around the location, while the mother was carrying the [baby] not in good condition and they notified the police.”

The girl’s biological parents, a 24-year-old father and 22-year-old mother, live at Sonskyn location in Omaruru. It is suspected that their baby may have suffocated. The child’s remains were taken to Omaruru State Mortuary and would later be taken to Walvis Bay for post mortem examination to determine the cause of death.

The bereaved parents were due to make their first appearance before the Omaruru Magistrates Court in connection with the death of the infant on Tuesday.

In another case of baby dumping and apparent infanticide reported at Swakopmund over the past weekend, the police said a woman who gave birth on Sunday to a fully formed baby girl had “dumped the baby in a dustbin” along Ondjamba Street in the DRC suburb.

The lifeless infant was discovered in the dustbin by children in the area, who were playing in the vicinity later that same day. The children reported the gruesome finding to their elders who in turn notified the police.

No one has been arrested in connection with the finding.

Last November, a baby born earlier that day was found by a taxi driver at Swakopmund abandoned but alive and wrapped in a blanket next to a dustbin.

She was reported to be the sixth case of infants abandoned at the two main coastal towns in 2018.