BABY Remoratile’s last words will forever haunt her mum, Gontse Ramorase.
The 18-year-old from Temba in Hammanskraal, Tshwane, said she regrets leaving her 15-month-old baby with her dad (22), who allegedly tortured the baby to death.
Gontse said the dad called her and asked that they come and visit him.
She said she was supposed to go to school on 5 November and told him they would need to go back home on Wednesday.
But the dad allegedly insisted on spending time with the baby.
“I didn’t have a problem with that because she was his child. So I told him I’ll fetch the baby on Friday,” she said.
But Gontse received a phone call on Friday from a lady who told her to quickly come take her child to a doctor, as she couldn’t breathe.
She said she rushed there and found her baby in a terrible state.
“My baby’s face was swollen. She had scars all over her body.
“She also had burnt scars like she was put on a burning stove,” Gontse said.
She said when she asked the dad what happened, he told her the baby was bitten by rats.
She said a community leader told her they needed to rush the baby to hospital and would deal with Matlhatsi later.
“At the hospital, doctors attended to her.
“She came around at midnight and called out my name,” said Gontse.
“She wanted to hug me, but couldn’t due to the pipes, but moments later she took her last breath while I was holding her tiny hands,” she said.
One of the community leaders said: hey were called by a neighbour to help after they heard the baby cry non-stop.“Neighbours told me she asked the dad to give her the baby so they could take care of her until the mum arrived, but he refused.
“He allegedly told her he was punishing the baby because the mum had left them.”
“The neighbour called on Friday and we rushed there. What we saw left us traumatised. The baby was in pain. Her face was swollen and she had burn marks. The father allegedly used a belt to assault the baby.”
Henry Mamothame, a spokesman for the NPA in the North West, said the father was charged with murder and will appear in court on Tuesday.
He said the suspect was kept in jail and did not apply for bail.
