women on trial for murder of boy (4)

By Staff Reporter (The Star)

November 18, 2005: In January 2003 the High Court ordered that 4-year-old Jandre Botha be placed in the care of his mother. Five months later he was dead - allegedly at the hands of his mother and her lesbian lover.

The state believes that Jandre was a victim of serial abuse, perpetrated by the people who had been entrusted with caring for him.

Yesterday, the boy's mother, 30-year-old Hanelie Botha, and her partner, 32-year-old Engeline de Nysschen, stood in the dock at the Vereeniging Regional Court charged with murder, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, child molestation and negligence.

On June 12 2003, Jandre was declared dead. The coroner's report said the cause had been a blow to his head.

Both women pleaded not guilty to all counts in October last year. The court heard chilling evidence of abuse: Jandre had a broken pelvis which had never been treated; his right hand and left collarbone were also broken; but he had never received medical care.

Botha refused to testify under oath to challenge medical evidence that Jandre had been a victim of serial abuse. Instead she submitted a statement to the court, pointing the finger of blame at her lover.
She said that on June 2 2003 her partner had arrived at home in Drie Riviere in Vereeniging with food for them, and became angry because they had eaten already.

"She had phoned me earlier and said I should not cook dinner because she would bring food for us. I ignored her order because we were very hungry. Upon realising that we had eaten already, she became furious and insisted that Jandre eat the food she brought," the statement read. She said Jandre tried to eat but vomited, prompting De Nysschen to assault him repeatedly with a slipper. Botha also said she had witnessed De Nysschen hitting her son with an object.

"I grabbed my child and removed him from her. Later the two of us watched TV while Jandre remained in the bath. Then we heard Jandre shrieking."

Botha said they took him to hospital and De Nysschen ordered her to tell the hospital authorities that he had fallen in the bath. The hospital's medical staff discovered that he had a blue mark on his breastbone which could have been sustained more than a month previously.

A radiologist testified that fractures to the boy's pelvis, hand and collarbone were old injuries that had never been treated.

Earlier the court heard that in 2002, Jandre's father, Jan Botha, had suspected that Jandre was being abused and contacted the authorities. A district surgeon confirmed his fears and Jandre was placed in foster care. However, in January 2003, Botha applied to the High Court to have Jandre returned to her custody - where his apparent abuse continued unabated.

State prosecutor Deon Barnard used the extensive medical evidence to grill De Nysschen in a bid to prove that both women had abused Jandre.

De Nysschen said that on numerous occasions Botha had assaulted Jandre. She testified that Botha had said she was doing this "to instil discipline in him".

De Nysschen testified that she too had occasionally slapped Jandre when he became naughty at home, but denied the state's allegations that she had used brute force.

She said that the only time she had assaulted Jandre was on June 2 when she had punched him in his face.

"It was not light. It was a very hard punch," De Nysschen admitted.
She dismissed the evidence of state witnesses who had linked her to a series of assaults on Jandre.

De Nysschen failed to explain in court how Jandre suffered the fatal wounds to his head.

She conceded that all at times Jandre had been under their care, prompting Barnard to say that the state could only blame the two of them for his death.

The hearing was postponed until November 30.