The Soweto woman accused of snatching a newborn baby from the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital was desperate to become a mother, her family has revealed.
She was arrested on Friday when police followed a tip-off to a home in Diepkloof, finding baby Mpumelelo with her. The newborn had been abducted the previous day.
The family told the Sowetan newspaper that she is 29 years old and lives in an outside room in the yard of a family property.
She had suffered two miscarriages in the past.
Her family told the Sowetan newspaper that they became suspicious when she called out of the blue to ask them to buy baby formula.
Neither they nor her boyfriend were aware of her even having fallen pregnant again, so a newborn in their home was seen as impossibile.
The woman had tried to commit suicide two weeks ago, a sister disclosed.
The suspect will appear in court on Wednesday for a formal bail application.
