Woman steals baby from mother's womb

SOUTH AFRICA: A South African woman is to appear in court Friday for murder over allegations that she sliced open a pregnant woman, kidnapped the baby and left the mother for dead, police said.

The 29-year-old woman from Randfontein, west of Johannesburg, had pretended to be pregnant before she attacked the expectant mother and ripped her baby out of her womb a week ago.

"The stomach of a 34-year-old woman was cut open with a sharp object and her baby taken out," police spokeswoman Appel Ernst told AFP.

"The suspect was later arrested after she (showed) up at a clinic with a newborn baby with a cut on its head," she said.

The baby is doing well in hospital, but the mother did not survive.

"This is an unusual case. Initial investigation has suggested that the mother had bled to death while giving birth," Ernst said.

Television images showed crowds of angry protesters who had gathered outside the Randfontein Magistrate Court where the woman was due appear.

Cases of stolen newborns are often reported in South Africa, which has one of the world's highest rates of violent crime.

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