By Staff Writer
WINDHOEK
Detectives at Katima Mulilo have opened a concealment of birth docket, after a 17-year-old student somehow concealed her pregnancy and gave birth to a baby boy whom she hid in a cosmetic bag that she put in a locker, for almost four days.
Police said the birth of the baby took place last week on Tuesday at around 22h00.
The site of the incident, involving a backdoor birth, is a female hostel at the Caprivi Senior Secondary School. The school was in the past a leading light but of late appears to have been let down by some students who indulge in eyebrow-raising activities.
The newly born baby was wrapped in a black skirt that was similarly wrapped in two plastic bags and put in the cosmetic bag.
Police in Windhoek said the baby was kept in the locker for almost four days before the suspect’s roommates found the baby and raised the alarm.
After the discovery of the baby, the suspect was admitted to Katima Mulilo State Hospital “due to heavy bleeding” a direct consequence of the risky backdoor midwifery.
The suspect was arrested and charged with “concealment of birth” while the police investigation is under way.
When contacted for comment on the latest saga, education authorities at Katima yesterday said they could not say anything on grounds that the incident was still under investigation.
Last year, the same school suspended 19 female students who were expecting babies together with one male student who was fingered for singly impregnating five fellow students. Those affected at the time were in grades ranging from eight to twelve.
At the time, a senior education official in the region had said suspending the students who were pregnant was the right thing because if they were left at the school, it might “send wrong signals” to other students.
On average, the school has 1000 learners with about 50 percent of them being female and it dwarfs other secondary schools in terms of the number of students that it enrolls.
In the past, some teachers in Caprivi like in other regions counted among culprits when it came to impregnating learners. Last week, President Hifikepunye Pohamba spoke out strongly against such teachers.