"Springs monster" mom in court

Uninvolved, uncooperative and unable to read and write. This is how the 36-year-old mother and wife of the man dubbed the “Springs monster” was portrayed in her bail hearing on Tuesday.

The couple have been accused of torturing and keeping captive their five children, aged 2, 3, 4,11 and 16, in their family home in Springs.

The woman, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the children, appeared in the Springs Magistrate’s Court on charges of attempted murder, child abuse, assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm and defeating the ends of justice.

She was arrested last week, a month after her husband was nabbed on the same charges. In addition, he is facing a charge of raping his wife.

But on Tuesday the wife denied she had been raped by her husband, whom “she loved”.

The father was arrested after the couple’s 11-year-old son – who was allegedly hit with a knobkerrie on his head, hung up by his wrists, sat on, punched and nearly drowned by his father – raised the alarm about the alleged torture happening behind closed doors.

The children are in a place of safety and the 11-year-old boy and his 16-year old sister are likely to be called to testify against their parents when the matter goes on trial.

On Tuesday investigating officer Rudolf Jansen told the court that the children had been abused “over years” and the “uninvolved” mother aware of it.

Jansen told the court that the 11-year-old had made a statement to police in which he claimed that his mother had wiped blood from his face after his father hit him.

He added that none of the children attended school and medical examinations showed that all, except the youngest two, had various wounds on their bodies.

Jansen told the court that the mother initially confirmed her children's version of events but her “attitude changed” when she was due to sign a statement.

The mother’s lawyer, Isabella van Eck, told the court that her client had no “wereld wys” (life experience) and was threatened and intimidated by police and “was scared”.

Jansen denied these allegations.

“Her life is in Springs; she knows nothing else ... . She cannot read or write,” Van Eck said.

Van Eck said that the woman's illiteracy was the reason she refused to sign the statement, adding that she believed “her husband was accused of a crime he did not commit”.

When she took the stand, the soft-spoken mother told the court she loved her husband and would never leave him.

The woman’s sister also took the stand, telling the court the mother was “scared of her husband”.

The bail hearing continues.