A four-month-old baby girl who was stabbed by her mother is lucky to be alive.
The infant, who is currently recuperating at the Mbabane Government Hospital, was stabbed by her 27-year-old mother who has been admitted at the psychiatric facility for mental evaluation.
The incident is said to have happened last week Monday at Lobamba. It was reported by the child’s father.
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer (PICO) Senior Superintendent, Phindile Zwane, confirmed the matter.
According to Vilakati, the infant is recuperating in hospital under the care of the woman’s relatives.
She said currently there were no formal charges laid against the woman in connection with the alleged stabbing, adding that they were considering the suspect’s health first before the crime.
According to Vilakati, investigations were still ongoing to establish her mental state before she could be charged.
Psychologist Thembinkosi Langa stated that the majority acts of violence were driven by social, situational or even behavioural factors.
Asked whether a mother could experience a serious mental health condition without her family recognising the symptoms beforehand, he said with mental health, the people were not violent, hence it became difficult to establish the problem.
“This is why most of the time the symptoms could remain untreated because they are hidden and a person could continue with their daily duties while internalising severe emotional pains,” Langa said.
He said in most cases people experiencing mental health challenges were not violent.
Meanwhile, police at Mafutseni are investigating a drowning incident involving a 14-year-old Grade VII pupil, who drowned while swimming in a dam at Vulamehlo on Saturday.
It was reported that the victim and his peers went to the dam to wash clothes upon return from school and after completing they decided to swim to cool off, amid the severe heat.
According to the police report, while in the water the victim and one of her friends struggled and started drowning, while the other friend tried to save them. Overcome by the weight of the victim, she prioritised pulling and saving the other.
Scuba divers were alerted and they arrived and retrieved the girl’s body from the dam and she was taken to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital where she was confirmed dead by a medical doctor.
The Royal Eswatini Police Service has appealed to the public to exercise extreme caution around dams, rivers and all water bodies during periods of severe heat.
