WINDHOEK – An 18-year-old girl who was arrested last week for allegedly dumping her lifeless baby in front of her shack in Greenwell Matongo was denied bail yesterday.

Katutura Magistrate Atutala Shikalepo refused to release Telesiska Ndevapewa Ruben, 18, on bail after public prosecutor Victoria Likius informed the court that the case against Ruben is of a serious nature. Ruben whose case was presented in court in her absence is currently admitted in Katutura State Hospital for medical treatment under the watchful eye of the Namibian police (Nampol). The prosecution is charging the 18-year-old with a count of concealment of birth. 

The court postponed the matter to June 17 for further police investigations and for Ruben to make an appearance before the magistrate. According to police reports, Ruben gave birth alone in their shack and dumped the baby a few meters in front of the shack. It is suspected that the baby hit its head on the floor during birth as there were blood spots in the one-bedroom shack that she shares with her uncle and two siblings.

It is suspected that the teenage girl gave birth by herself after her uncle went to work and her siblings to school. It is further alleged that after giving birth, she soaked the bloody blanket in the water outside the shack in the process of cleaning up the bloody room.

The girl arrived in Namibia at the end of May from Onehoni village in Angola. 
On Friday, the police had to whisk the girl away from an angry mob that wanted to lynch her. The mob wanted to break into the shack in which the girl was hiding for her safety.