A family in Sebokeng is distraught after they were given the wrong infant to bury two weeks ago. The burial did not go ahead as planned because when they checked, they had been given the wrong child to bury.

DOUBLE TRAGEDY

Not only is their child dead, but she is missing. Now the parents of the baby want to know what happend to their daughter because they want to give her a proper buriaThe mother Ntsebeng Motaung said after giving birth on the 28th of April she was shown a baby girl. "when I was done giving birth the nurse who was helping me came and held the baby up for me to see. She asked if I can tell the gender and I confirmed that it was a girl then she walked away. In a short space of time I was told that my baby didn't make it, they said she died,said the devastated mother. She said the nurse told her to call a family member to organise a private undertaker to remove the child from hospital for burial. Thereafter, the hospital Organised counseling for her. "I sent my sister a call back and called me. I explained the situation and she came with an undertaker that was on a Friday. The funeral was Organised for the Wednesday of the coming week and everything was prepared. On the day before the funeral I went to the undertaker with some family members who helped me identify the baby. However, only the chest was shown to us. The ID number and name on the baby matched mine, so we were convinced everything is in order,sge said.

THE WRONG BABY

She added that as per instruction from the undertaker they went back on the day of the funeral to bath and cloth the baby before burial. "When we got there we noticed that the gender of the baby was wrong, it was a boy instead of a girl. we almost buried someone's child. We had to call home and cancel the funeral.

Motaung added that her sister assisted her all the way to the point of going back to the hospital to get answers.

"The matron said she can't help us because they don't know where or what happend to my baby. We've opened a case with the police and sought answers with the health department who said they are investigating the matter."

The father of the baby says he struggles to sleep at night and is haunted by his missing infant.

He said they've come to terms with the loss but just wasn't to give the infant a decent burial.