Child found in toilet pit loses fight for life

The newborn baby who was rescued from a toilet pit by residents of Fitz-Hughes on Wednesday morning, September 16, died last Sunday, September 19, at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH).

The child’s rescue drew national attention when a video of the child being fished from a latrine pit, umbilical cord still attached, was posted on social media site Facebook.

On Thursday, September 15, SEARCHLIGHT visited the area where the child was found and spoke to Jozelle Woods.{{more}}

Woods is a family friend of the woman who is being accused of allegedly dumping the child and who villagers in the video referred to as ‘Sheika’.

The Fitz-Hughes resident told SEARCHLIGHT that she recalled seeing a woman washing blood from her body prior to the video being recorded and as a result alerted a family member, who was nearby, to the woman’s actions.

Woods said that shortly after, a child in the area heard crying, looked down in the latrine pit, saw the baby and screamed, alerting villagers to the infant in the pit.

“We never see the mother, because she left.” Woods recalled.

According to the Fitz-Hughes resident, the 32-year-old woman, who is alleged to have thrown away the child, has a history of mental instability and has suffered from “nervous breakdowns” on three different occasions prior to the incident.

Woods said that the lady has four children, none of whom resides with her.

Another villager, the woman who removed the baby from the latrine pit, told reporters that she is the accused woman’s cousin. She recalled approaching the house where the pit was located after returning from a nearby river. She said that she heard the child crying, after which villagers assisted her in taking the baby out of the pit and to a nearby hospital.

The villager said she does not know who the father of the deceased child is.

On Thursday, villagers who congregated outside of the alleged mother’s home, described her as “mentally unstable and an alcoholic”.

Persons in the crowd, some visibly upset, told reporters that the alleged mother had constantly denied being pregnant and had birthed the child inside her house on Wednesday morning.

SEARCHLIGHT was unable to find out exactly what caused the baby boy’s demise, but it is being said that the child died from septic shock. And the woman alleged to be the mother of the child, who was warded at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, was discharged over the weekend.

On Monday, a police source said that no one has yet been charged in relation to the death and investigations are still ongoing.