Dad arrested for breaking curfew to buy formula for newborn

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NEW YORK - A South African father was arrested after going out to buy baby formula for his newborn baby during curfew hours.

The father went to the pharmacy at a hospital at about 1 a.m. on Friday to buy the formula for his two-day-old baby.

According to a local Facebook group in his South African town, the baby was born on January 6 and went home with mom the following day.

The baby reportedly was struggling to breastfeed to the father rushed out to buy formula.

Police officers stopped him about 550 yards from his home and arrested him for breaking the curfew.  They did not allow him to go home to drop off the formula before they took him to jail. 

The mother had to take her newborn and walk to the scene in the middle of the night to get the formula and car keys.

The father was released later in the day and an investigation into the incident has been launched.  The new father, who was not identified, was due back in court next week.

South Africa is under a coronavirus lockdown with a nightly curfew between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.