Lonely birth of baby born of incest described to court

ALL alone in a mahangu field, a woman from a village in the Omusati Region was in labour for 12 hours before she gave birth to a baby that was the result of an incestuous relationship with her brother, the High Court at Oshakati heard this week.

Vistolina Ekandjo Uupindi (29), from Onandjo village in Omusati Region, gave this explanation to Judge Louis Muller this week when she pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder, but admitted concealing the birth of her baby, at Onandjo between April 18 and 19 2003. Uupindi is accused of killing her newborn baby boy by strangling him.She then buried him in a shallow grave, it is alleged.Judge Muller is set announce today whether Uupindi has been found guilty on the murder charge or not.In her plea explanation that was handed Judge Muller, Uupindi said she was pregnant during the period leading to April 19 2003.She said that she fell pregnant as a result of an incestuous sexual relationship with a brother of hers.During the night of April 19 2003, she experienced labour pains while she was asleep, she said.She told the court that she woke up early in the morning and went to a nearby mahangu field where she was in labour for about 12 hours.At about noon, she gave birth to a baby boy who was alive – crying and coughing – at the time.She told the court that she waited for about an hour while the baby lay on the ground with the umbilical cord around his neck.”After a while, the baby became quiet as if dead and I believed therefore it was dead,” she told the court.She said she took a scarf and tied it tightly twice around the baby’s neck and body to cover it before burying it, but not to kill it.Uupindi said when she was doing so, the baby did not cry or move and did not appear to be breathing.She added that after she had wrapped the scarf around the infant’s neck, she put the baby’s body in plastic bag, dug a hole with a stick and buried the child.Uupindi told the court that she did not inform anyone about the birth, until after it was discovered that she had given birth on that day.Uupindi admitted that she buried the dead body of the baby with the intention to conceal the birth.She further told the court that after giving birth, she experienced a lot of bleeding and went to Okahao hospital, from where she was transferred to Oshakati State Hospital, where she was admitted for treatment of post-natal complications.Uupindi admitted that it was wrong of her to not tell anyone about the birth or that she had buried the baby.She also admitted that she realised that she was acting wrongly and unlawfully and that she could be punished if found guilty by a court of law.”I am profoundly sorry for what I did and pray for mercy from the Honourable Court,” she said.Uupindi is accused of killing her newborn baby boy by strangling him.She then buried him in a shallow grave, it is alleged.Judge Muller is set announce today whether Uupindi has been found guilty on the murder charge or not.In her plea explanation that was handed Judge Muller, Uupindi said she was pregnant during the period leading to April 19 2003.She said that she fell pregnant as a result of an incestuous sexual relationship with a brother of hers.During the night of April 19 2003, she experienced labour pains while she was asleep, she said.She told the court that she woke up early in the morning and went to a nearby mahangu field where she was in labour for about 12 hours. At about noon, she gave birth to a baby boy who was alive – crying and coughing – at the time.She told the court that she waited for about an hour while the baby lay on the ground with the umbilical cord around his neck.”After a while, the baby became quiet as if dead and I believed therefore it was dead,” she told the court.She said she took a scarf and tied it tightly twice around the baby’s neck and body to cover it before burying it, but not to kill it.Uupindi said when she was doing so, the baby did not cry or move and did not appear to be breathing.She added that after she had wrapped the scarf around the infant’s neck, she put the baby’s body in plastic bag, dug a hole with a stick and buried the child.Uupindi told the court that she did not inform anyone about the birth, until after it was discovered that she had given birth on that day.Uupindi admitted that she buried the dead body of the baby with the intention to conceal the birth.She further told the court that after giving birth, she experienced a lot of bleeding and went to Okahao hospital, from where she was transferred to Oshakati State Hospital, where she was admitted for treatment of post-natal complications.Uupindi admitted that it was wrong of her to not tell anyone about the birth or that she had buried the baby.She also admitted that she realised that she was acting wrongly and unlawfully and that she could be punished if found guilty by a court of law.”I am profoundly sorry for what I did and pray for mercy from the Honourable Court,” she said.