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Durban - A Chatsworth mother accused of killing her 3-year-old daughter, Baby X, and abusing her two older children, has undergone tests in support of her defence of mental incapacity.
An electroencephalogram (EEG) was done to test for abnormalities in the brain related to electrical activity, and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan conducted, which can diagnose injuries to the brain.
Durban High Court Judge Mohini Moodley on Monday heard that the findings were contained in two reports submitted by the mother’s defence counsel, advocate Murray Pitman, to senior State advocate Cheryl Naidu early last month.
The trial, involving the 31-year-old mother and 51-year-old grandmother, was adjourned earlier this year until Monday for the State and the defence to call expert witnesses to testify on both women’s mental capacity.
The State requested further time to assess the new evidence and perhaps call on their own neurological expert.
Both women have pleaded not guilty to Baby X’s murder in their Chatsworth home in November 2014.
They also pleaded not guilty to charges of child abuse, assault and sexual assault against the little girl’s two older siblings, now 9 and 12 years old.
The grandmother also pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting and raping the little girl. The accused and Baby X cannot be named to protect the identity of Baby X’s surviving siblings.
The pair were under mental observation at Fort Napier Hospital for a period in March and April last year and were both found to be mentally fit to stand trial.
Dr JA Dunn, a senior psychiatrist at Fort Napier Hospital, found the mother had no prior psychiatric treatment or disorder on examination, and said she was sociable and co-operative.
“She was able to answer questions appropriately when interviewed. She has no mental illness or mental defect and is able to follow trial proceedings and give an account in court concerning the charge sheet.
“She is able to distinguish between right and wrong and act accordingly,” read the report.
A specialist psychiatrist in private practice, Professor Dan Mkhize, also submitted a report and said the mother denied alcohol abuse, but admitted to using drugs and named heroin as the drug of choice.
The grandmother, like her daughter, was found to have a satisfactory state of health and no evidence of mental illness.
The mother disputed the findings and had undergone a private assessment, which came to the same conclusion.
Her previous attorney, Vijay Sivakumoor, had in December last year, before the start of the high court trial, submitted a curator’s report that had been lodged for a Road Accident Fund (RAF) claim in 2004.
The grandmother had made the RAF application on her daughter’s behalf because her daughter had “sustained serious head injuries”, which resulted in her “being unable to communicate on a meaningful level”.
She was involved in a hit-and-run accident in July 2001.
She had been walking in Flower Road in Clairwood when the driver of a Ford Sierra knocked her over.
According to witness reports, she was hit, lifted into the air and landed 10m to 20m away. The driver had apparently driven off. The mother was pregnant at the time.
The curator found she had exhibited “child-like tendencies” and was not self-sufficient, and felt that she would need care for the rest of her life.
The matter was adjourned until next month for new trial dates to be set for next year.
noelene.barbeau@inl.co.za
@noeleneb
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