Baby dies alone while mother spends all night partying at a tavern

A three-month-old baby reportedly died on Friday (16 December) in Johannesburg, South Africa, while her mother allegedly left the baby alone at home to have drinks with her friends at a bar.

Kathorus Mail reported that the 26-year-old woman was arrested on charges of child negligence. According to the paper, the woman was mother to twins, and had left the baby girl at home but took her infant son with her to a local pub.

"It is alleged that a woman who has three-month-old twins (a girl and a boy) on Friday evening decided to go to the tavern, taking one child with her and leaving the other alone at home. When she came back the following day, early in the morning, she found the baby dead," said Captain Mega Ndobe, communications officer at Katlehong Police Station.

The incident came into light after the mother – whose name has not been released by the police – returned to her shack the next morning. Neighbours alerted authorities about the incident and alleged that woman was noticed neglecting her children.

"She saw the condition of the child but still went back to a tavern to drink. When she came back for the second time it was around 6am on Saturday and she was in the company of a male person. She went inside the shack and came out crying to report to my mom that her child was dead," the woman's neighbour Noluthando Mtshali said.

A witness said that the woman had left the pub much earlier as her friends had forced her to leave the venue and check on the child she had left at home. "As soon as I realised that she was dancing with one child on her back, I asked her where the other one was. She said the child was with her sister inside a car that was parked outside.

"I went to check and found there was no car parked outside. Then I chased her away. Even other women who were there at the tavern threatened to beat her up if she did not leave at that time. She left because of the pressure from me and other women," said the witness, who did not wish to be identified.