Five-year-old Juliana Gounga of Orange Walk, Matthews Ridge, North West District (NWD) is now dead after reportedly drowning in a mining pit.
Based on police reports, the child’s mother is employed as a cook at ‘Jawbone’ Backdam, Baramita, NWD, where she took the girl to spend the August holiday.
However, at about 16:30h on August 28, the mother alleged that she left her daughter at the shop for about 10 minutes.
Upon her return, she noticed the child was not where she left her, and she began making checks around the premises. The woman further related that she then observed her daughter in a pool of water in an old gold mining pit face down, motionless.
The mother immediately went into the pit and pulled the child out.
After recognizing Juliana was unresponsive, the mother rushed her to the Baramita Cottage Hospital, where she was pronounced dead by a doctor on duty.
A post-mortem examination, which was conducted at the Port Kaituma Hospital Mortuary by Dr Nehaul Singh on Friday, revealed that five-year-old Juliana died by drowning.
Her body was subsequently handed over to relatives.
