Couples Jailed For Neglecting Their Sick 5-months Old Baby To Die Due To Church Beliefs

 

The parents of a five-month-old boy who died from rickets after they neglected his care because of their religious beliefs were jailed today.
Seventh Day Adventists Nkosiyapha Kunene, 36, and his wife Virginia, 32, from Erith, Kent, who admitted the manslaughter of their son Ndingeko, received three years and two years, three months' imprisonment respectively.

Mr Justice Singh, at the Old Bailey, said:

 ‘The secular courts of this country apply the secular law of the land. They do so equally to all who come before them. The law respects the right of everyone to freedom of thought and belief. ‘However the right to manifest one's religion is not absolute.
  It is limited in particular by the rights of others. The state has a particularly important duty to protect the right to life, especially when a young child is concerned.’

 Ndingeko was born on January 1, 2012 and died in June 14 that year. He was found to have been suffering from rickets resulting from severe Vitamin D deficiency.

According to the hospital records, the child had problems from birth, and the mother never attended check ups for Ndingeko knowing the circumstance of his health.

According to  Kerim Fuad, while defending his client said:

 ‘The loss of their son haunts them, and will do, for the rest of their lives. They don’t expect that pain to pass.’.  ‘The covenant he (Nkosiyapha) had sworn with God blinded his objectivity and common sense.’ Nkosiyapha, who was working as a nurse at King’s College Hospital, did not reject medical treatment outright.

‘He simply believes that a large amount of modern medicine is procedural and formulaic. He believes medicines are given to patients without much thought as to whether they are appropriate to a particular case.’

Nkosiyapha was baptised into the Seventh Day Adventist Church in 2000 and in 2009 was recommended to be a delegate to its South England Conference.