Скачать или смотреть The Watchdog | 17 January 2022

A media statement sent out by the National Prosecuting Authority on Monday morning reads like a horror movie script. Forty-four-year-old Seun Joubert and girlfriend Isabelle Francis, 35 of age, from Alabama near Klerksdorp, have apparently been staying together for 15 years. They have two boys aged 2 and 5, as well as two girls aged 8 and 13. In May 2021, Francis was arrested for assaulting her two-year-old boy but was later released as she was breastfeeding at the time.

Four months later, in September 2021, Francis was arrested again. This time for assaulting her 13-year-old daughter at her mother's house. She allegedly hit the girl with clenched fists, kicked her before throwing her on the ground, and stomping her afterwards.

Francis then went on to assault her own mother, who had been taking care of the children, following interventions by the social development department. It turned out Francis had forcefully taken back the children.

A month later, police investigations into the assault charges led them to a gruesome discovery. On the 9th of August - Women's Day - when a social worker visited Francis's house to both get a sense of how the kids were doing and to drop off some groceries, the social worker found the two-year-old boy in a bad state of health, with sores all over his face.

The social worker then went back the following day, and to his shock, the couple had left the 4 month old baby all by herself, lying on the bed without a blanket. The baby looked emaciated.
The social worker and wife took the baby home with them, and the next day took her to hospital where she was immediately admitted, but sadly, died three days later. The attending pediatrician confirmed that she died of complications of malnutrition.

Seun Joubert and Isabelle Francis are now in jail. Both were charged with murder and five other counts. The court has denied them bail and they will remain in custody until the completion of the trial.


For more news, visit sabcnews.com and also #SABCNews #Coronavirus #COVID19News #Covid-19Vaccination #Vaccine on Social Media.