Mother held after dead baby found

A PORT ELIZABETH mother was arrested last night for allegedly smothering her newborn baby and hiding the body in a box at her employer’s premises.

The New Brighton mother of two, 36, was arrested within four hours of the body being found in the back room of a house where she works in Bain Street, Central.

While the mother was being taken into the police station by a team of detectives, she pulled a beanie down over her head and looked down at the ground.

Police station commander Brigadier Ronald Koll said the woman, who worked at the house as a domestic worker, was sent home early last Wednesday as she felt ill.

“The body was only discovered [yesterday] at about 1pm when the gardener noticed a strange stench coming from the back room,” he said.

“The gardener went to investigate and found the body of a newborn baby girl in a plastic packet hidden inside an empty box.”

-Gareth Wilson