Newborn buried alive in dunes

A NEWBORN baby girl was rescued by the Police after being buried alive by her mother in the dunes near Walvis Bay on Thursday.

The little girl was immediately rushed to hospital. Her mother has been arrested on a charge of attempted murder, and is in custody in hospital with the baby.According to the police, the mother said she buried the baby because her boyfriend did not want the child.The Erongo Regional Commander, Deputy Commissioner Festus Shilongo, told the press on Friday that a member of the public called the Police at about 10h00 on Thursday morning.The caller asked the Police to go out to the dunes near the ‘NamPort Location’ part of Kuisebmond, where there was a baby “crying under the sand”.Detective Constable Job Kauvi and his team immediately left for the location, which was about 500 metres from the nearest houses in an area of small dune mounds.Kauvi told The Namibian that he went to the place where the caller had heard the crying and noticed a small heap of blood-soaked sand.He immediately started digging there and felt a little hand under the sand.”I felt that the child was still alive and quickly but carefully dug her out, afraid of hurting her.I could not believe what I was seeing in front of me,” he explained.The newborn baby was crying and choking on the sand inside her mouth, nose and eyes.Without thinking twice, Kauvi removed his shirt and wrapped the baby in it.Leaving his camera equipment and his colleagues behind at the scene, he sprinted to the car.”I needed to get this baby to the hospital as quick as possible.The driver was not going fast enough so I told him to step on it,” he said.The few kilometres to the Walvis Bay State Hospital felt like an eternity, he added.Kauvi ran into the hospital – bare-chested – and called for medical assistance.The baby was admitted, cleaned and taken care of.According to Deputy Commissioner Shilongo, the child is now doing well.The Police followed footprints leading from the burial site and tracked down the baby’s mother at a house on the edge of the NamPort Location.She was arrested and reunited with the child at the hospital, where she is now being held in custody until she will appear in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court today on a charge of attempted murder.According to Kauvi, it is believed that the woman gave birth to the baby in the dunes.It is not clear how long the child managed to survive under the sand.This is the third time in two months that a newborn baby has been found dumped on the outskirts of Walvis Bay or Swakopmund.Shilongo made an appeal to the community to help the Police put a stop to infanticide and baby dumping.He urged people to make use of free contraceptives available from State clinics to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.Women with unwanted babies should contact the Ministry of Health and Social Services for assistance, he added.Her mother has been arrested on a charge of attempted murder, and is in custody in hospital with the baby.According to the police, the mother said she buried the baby because her boyfriend did not want the child.The Erongo Regional Commander, Deputy Commissioner Festus Shilongo, told the press on Friday that a member of the public called the Police at about 10h00 on Thursday morning.The caller asked the Police to go out to the dunes near the ‘NamPort Location’ part of Kuisebmond, where there was a baby “crying under the sand”. Detective Constable Job Kauvi and his team immediately left for the location, which was about 500 metres from the nearest houses in an area of small dune mounds.Kauvi told The Namibian that he went to the place where the caller had heard the crying and noticed a small heap of blood-soaked sand.He immediately started digging there and felt a little hand under the sand.”I felt that the child was still alive and quickly but carefully dug her out, afraid of hurting her.I could not believe what I was seeing in front of me,” he explained.The newborn baby was crying and choking on the sand inside her mouth, nose and eyes.Without thinking twice, Kauvi removed his shirt and wrapped the baby in it.Leaving his camera equipment and his colleagues behind at the scene, he sprinted to the car.”I needed to get this baby to the hospital as quick as possible.The driver was not going fast enough so I told him to step on it,” he said.The few kilometres to the Walvis Bay State Hospital felt like an eternity, he added.Kauvi ran into the hospital – bare-chested – and called for medical assistance.The baby was admitted, cleaned and taken care of.According to Deputy Commissioner Shilongo, the child is now doing well.The Police followed footprints leading from the burial site and tracked down the baby’s mother at a house on the edge of the NamPort Location.She was arrested and reunited with the child at the hospital, where she is now being held in custody until she will appear in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court today on a charge of attempted murder.According to Kauvi, it is believed that the woman gave birth to the baby in the dunes.It is not clear how long the child managed to survive under the sand. This is the third time in two months that a newborn baby has been found dumped on the outskirts of Walvis Bay or Swakopmund.Shilongo made an appeal to the community to help the Police put a stop to infanticide and baby dumping.He urged people to make use of free contraceptives available from State clinics to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.Women with unwanted babies should contact the Ministry of Health and Social Services for assistance, he added.