Mother denies burying baby alive

Fatou Tamba, the woman who allegedly buried her new-born baby alive, denied the allegation when she testified recently in her defence at the Special Criminal Court of the High Court in Banjul.

In giving evidence before Justice Richards, the accused person, Fatou Tamba, told the court that after giving birth, she realised that the baby was tiny and motionless, and was not breathing for a long period of time.

As such, she decided to dig a grave and secretly bury the child.

According to her, she had only revealed her pregnancy to one unnamed friend, since her biological father was not around.

When quizzed by state counsel Mikailu, she testified that "I buried the child without knowing whether the child was dead or alive."

She adduced that during the investigations, at the police headquarters in Banjul, a certain police officer approached her and told her that she was charged for killing, and that she fervently denied the said charges.

While testifying under cross-examination, she admitted that it is against society's moral fabric for women to bury their dead ones.

In another development, Justice Richards made an order for one Kalilou Bojang, charged with murder, to undergo a psychiatric test in order to determine his mental status. This was after the accused avowedly admitted killing one Abdourahman Jallow by hitting him with an iron bar at Westfield Junction recently.

Kalilou Bojang also admitted to the court that he has some characteristics of insanity, and warned that if he was released without being treated it was likely he will fight someone again.