A mother from Newclare who was seen on video getting her young son to light a “drug pipe” and smoke it with her, appeared in the Johannesburg magistrate's court on Thursday.
The video went viral on Tuesday and sparked outrage, leading to her arrest later that night by the Joburg Metro Police Department.
She was in the dock with three men alleged to have been in the room with her during the incident.
Two were arrested on the same night as her and the other suspect was apprehended on Wednesday.
They are charged with attempted murder and child abuse for exposing the child to a harmful substance.
They intend to apply for Legal Aid lawyers to defend them. The case was to postponed to August 4.
The child is four years old, the court heard. Initially, he was believed to be aged three.
The child was taken to a place of safety after being medically assessed in hospital.
“The video depicted the child lighting drugs in a bottle neck for his mother, who then encouraged him to smoke, all in the presence of other adults,” the JMPD said earlier this week.
After receiving a tip-off on her whereabouts, the JMPD said its officers located the mother, who matched the description from the video.
“When questioned, she identified two other individuals present in the video, including the person who recorded it. All three suspects confessed to using Mandrax and admitted to filming the incident. Their cellphones were confiscated as evidence.”
Police spokesperson Brig Brenda Muridili said on Wednesday members of the Johannesburg family violence and child abuse unit (FCS) were investigating the case.
“The FCS in Gauteng has 22 units strategically located in the province servicing 146 police stations. There are at least 66 detectives on standby from FCS after hours to attend to cases related to their mandate,” she said.
TimesLIVE
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