Baby rescued in Juba by volunteers after being dumped by mother in a pit latrine

By Adia Jildo

Volunteers on Thursday rescued a six-day-old baby from a pit latrine in the New site suburb of Juba.

Betty Thomas, a social worker privy to the tragic incident said the baby had spent one hour in the pit latrine after it was dumped there by the mother from Aweil town of Northern Bahr El Ghazal State.

“The child was rescued this morning after staying inside the toilet for an hour. It was discovered that the mother is the one who threw it there,” Thomas told journalists in Juba.

 The baby’s mother happens to be a 20-year-old woman who three days back arrived pregnant in Juba from Aweil.

Thomas said the police have arrested the suspected woman for questioning.

She said cases of dumping children have become rampant in the city.

“Last month, we got a baby dumped within one of the locations in Juba,” Thomas said.

She called on women and young girls to use family planning to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

“How do you carry a baby for 9 months and dump it again? If you do not intend to get pregnant, please use family planning or even give the child to a hospital,” she said.

Thomas said the baby was put on proper health treatment and feeding.

She, however, said the baby will not be given back to the mother to prevent it from further harm.

Our attempts to reach the police for comment failed due to the sensitivity of the matter to avoid compromising the investigation.