Woman accused of stealing babies could face attempted murder charges

A Gqeberha woman, accused of kidnapping two babies from Dora Nginza Hospital, could now be charged with two counts of attempted murder.

This, after the state indicated that they were awaiting a doctor’s report regarding the health of the babies the woman allegedly stole, the medical care they had required after birth, and the conditions at the house where she allegedly kept them before her arrest in May .

In the meantime, during Sinovuyo Rabula’s formal bail application in the New Brighton Magistrate’s Court on Friday, the court heard how she had reportedly lied to her boyfriend and faked her own pregnancy.

It was further alleged that the 22-year-old had been referred to a psychologist after visiting the hospital on three separate occasions in May to falsely claim that she was expecting twins.

At a previous court appearance, Rabula had smiled at family members seated in the public gallery.

This time, however, she cut a lonely figure as she hung her head and stared blankly at the floor while the evidence was heard.

At the start of proceedings, state prosecutor Nicole December brought an application for the matter to be postponed.

She said the state was waiting on a medical report regarding the additional charges.

She said charges of attempted murder could change the seriousness of the matter, impact the schedule of the offence and how bail proceedings are conducted.

It was put before court that the babies were both born prematurely and were kept in incubators at the hospital’s neonatal ward.

One of the babies had suffered a broken arm during birth, while the other weighed only 1.6kg, and both required special medical treatment.

However, Rabula allegedly put both babies in a duffel bag, carried them out of the hospital, and took them to the shack where she stayed with her boyfriend, which a veteran detective later described as “dirty and completely unsuitable” for newborn babies, let alone ones born prematurely.

Defence attorney Siphelo Gila, of Legal Aid SA, argued against the application, saying the state had already been granted a postponement to verify the accused’s address and criminal record.

He said any further delays would prejudice his client.

The court ordered that the bail application proceed as nothing prevented the state from bringing additional charges against Rabula at a later stage.

While the lead investigator in the matter was sick and unavailable to attend court, the state called Captain Michael Shanagan to lead evidence in opposition of the accused’s bail bid.

Shanagan told the court he had been a detective with the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit since 1995, and was now stationed at the Motherwell police station.

Reading from reports compiled by his colleagues, he said the two babies were reported missing at 8pm on May 20.

Due to the babies requiring incubation, their mothers only had access to them for breastfeeding, but nurses noticed that the babies were missing about an hour after the mothers had last fed them.

Security footage allegedly showed the accused leaving the hospital with a duffel bag, and the videos were circulated on social media.

During the investigation it came to light that Rabula had visited the hospital three times between May 4 and May 19, claiming she was pregnant.

She would then wander around the maternity ward.

Reports indicated doctors had done a pregnancy test on Rabula, which came back negative, and referred her to a psychologist on her last visit on May 19.

However, Shanagan testified that other mothers in the ward had seen the accused walking around trying to breastfeed a baby, but it was nothing more than a bundle of blankets she had carried as if she were holding a newborn.

He further told the court that once Rabula’s boyfriend saw the security footage on social media, he confronted her and immediately wanted to contact the police.

The boyfriend and a neighbour then took her back to the hospital where she was arrested.

The boyfriend further reported that he had been made to believe that Rabula was pregnant with twins, and that she was due in May.

He thought she had gone to Dora Nginza to give birth, and on May 20 she had allegedly phoned him to fetch her and their infant twins from the hospital.

The matter was postponed to Tuesday for further evidence. The accused remains in custody.

The Herald