Father of abused baby: ’I was never alone with her’

THE FATHER of the severely abused infant known as Baby T claims he was never alone with the child as the mother was “incredibly protective over the baby.”

The child had about 31 fractures all over her body when she was admitted to hospital at the age of five months,

The 24-year-old man and his now former girlfriend are facing an array of charges, including attempted murder, child abuse as well as neglect.

Both pleaded not guilty to the charges in the Pretoria high court.

Several doctors who examined the child on the two occasions in which she landed in hospital testified earlier that they were horrified that a small child like that had so many fractures.

They all testified how difficult it was to break a baby’s bones, as they are flexible at that age. They also agreed that a great amount of force must have been used to break the child’s bones.

The little girl was barely two months old when she was admitted to hospital for the first time in April last year as she could not breathe. X-rays revealed a host of broken ribs on both sides of her body, both old and new. By the time Baby T went to hospital again in July last year, she had several more broken bones – also both old and new. She also had soft tissue injuries to her face and neck.

In taking the stand first yesterday in defence of the charges, the father said he noticed no injuries on the baby, except for a blue mark in her face.

The mother claimed the doctor who earlier gave the child inoculations on her legs caused the mark. Confronted with this yesterday, the father laughed and said it was definitely not the doctor who was, in fact, very gentle with the child. He could not explain how the child was injured, as he said he and his now former girlfriend did not live together. The mother was expected to take the stand today.