Cops have arrested Baby Nadia’s mother amid claims that a second set of bite marks were found on the two-year-old girl, who was rescued from a tik den in Eureka Estate last month.
The case, which sparked outrage among Cape Flats residents, has taken a twist after cops went hunting for the mother, who previously denied any involvement in her child’s abuse.
According to a source, police officers arrived in Eureka Estate on Wednesday afternoon looking for the 25-year-old woman, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her daughter but could not find her and went to Clarke’s Estate.
“They said she is in the Springbok Flats, but when the cops got there they could not find her.
“So then they went to Malawi Camp and found her there and arrested her. We heard the police said the report shows that there were more bite marks on the child. They say she also abused the child.”
Shortly after the arrest of her friend, Ursula Paste, 30, the mother told the Daily Voice that she had had no idea her child was being abused at Paste’s home.
She claimed Paste and her skollie friends assaulted her, threw her out and kept her child because they wanted her Sassa money.
The child’s genitals were burnt, her tiny body bitten and her hair cut.
The mom claimed she got a skrik when she heard what had happened to her child and denied being a drug addict amid claims from the community that Paste’s house in Craig Street was a well-known pella pos.
The child was rescued by resident Debbie van Rensburg and taken to hospital where she was treated for two weeks.
Paste was charged with sexual assault and attemped murder and sent to Pollsmoor Prison.
Police spokesperson, Captain FC van Wyk, confirms the mother was arrested for attempted murder.
“After consultation with the court, she is due to appear in the Goodwood Magistrate's Court on Friday,” Van Wyk says.
On Thursday Paste returned to court for the outcome of her bail application, but the matter was postponed to Friday.