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Baby’s body a grim harvest!

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Crop farmer Solomon Mathonsi found a grave containing a newborn baby on his farm.    Photo by Beatrice Shongwe/AENS
Crop farmer Solomon Mathonsi found a grave containing a newborn baby on his farm. Photo by Beatrice Shongwe/AENS

A FARMER from Mpumalanga has told of his shock when he discovered the body of a newborn baby girl buried amid the crops on his farm.

Solomon Mathonsi (64), a farmer in Matsulu near the Kruger National Park, stumbled upon the grave while he was wrapping up his day on Workers’ Day this week.

“I went to cut trees and prepare the soil for my winter crops when I saw something that shocked me to my boots.

“I couldn’t believe that I was seeing a grave. Whoever did this had also left a two-litre bottle on top of the grave.

“I suspected they had perhaps buried a dog here, only to later find that it was a human body,” Mathonsi said yesterday.

Mathonsi said that since it had grown dark after he found the grave on Monday, he decided to leave it until the next morning.

“I called police on Tuesday and they came and told me to dig up the grave. I was very afraid when I found that it was the body of a newborn wrapped in a towel.”

Mathonsi said it was unfair for anyone to use the local farms as graveyards.

“We came here to make a living because farming is our bread and butter,” Mathonsi said.

Matsulu police said they had managed to trace the family of the buried baby.

“They explained that the baby had been dead when they buried her there and apologised to the farmer. They took the body to a proper burial site,” said police.

Attempts to speak to the dead baby’s family were unsuccessful. – AENS

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