A Limpopo woman has been arrested for killing her week-old baby at Groothoek Hospital in Magatle, near Lebowakgomo.

Police said the 35-year-old woman removed the baby from the incubator and started assaulting the baby and nurse.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said the suspect gave birth to the baby in the hospital and that the baby was still under nursing care in the paediatric unit.

The woman apparently entered that unit under the pretext that she wanted to breastfeed the baby.

“She grabbed the baby from the incubator and started assaulting the nurse and she struck the baby against the floor by the head,” said Ngoepe

The baby died instantly. The suspect will appear before the Magatle Magistrate’s Court on Thursday on a charge of murder.