An eight-year-old boy had to undergo eye surgery in a Port Elizabeth hospital after his foster mother allegedly assaulted him.
An eight-year-old boy had to undergo eye surgery in a Port Elizabeth hospital after his foster mother allegedly assaulted him.
He has already been released from hospital, but the boy's grandmother said doctors found his eye had been damaged.
"The doctor said his lens was damaged but said he might recover and be able to see again because he is still young," she said.
Grocott's Mail reported that the boy arrived at school with a swollen eye on Wednesday 12 June.
His class teacher was the first person to notice the injuries on his face during the morning prayer. At first the boy blamed his swollen eye on an accident involving another pupil.
Later he told teachers that he and another young child in the same foster home had been beaten by their care giver for wetting their beds.
During an emotional interview Child Welfare director Woineshet Bischoff told Grocott's Mail that the foster mother had been asked to leave the foster home immediately.
On Thursday 13 June, a day after the incident, police arrested a 36-year-old woman for common assault.
This week police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender confirmed that the charge is now assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The woman made her first appearance in the Grahamstown Magistrate's Court on Friday 14 June. The case was postponed to 19 July for further investigation.
