No justice for alleged murdered children
In both cases, the mothers are suspected of murdering their children. No case can be made against either of them.
MBOMBELA – After a two-week investigation, the body of an apparently murdered child has still not been found. The mother, who claimed she had killed the child, is not being detained since there is not enough evidence to charge her with murder.
Another mother who was also initially charged with the murder of her two children, was also set free due to an apparent lack of evidence.
Read: Two mothers accused of killing their children
Although the mother had allegedly confessed on September 30 that she and the father of a 14-month-old boy had murdered him before dumping his body in a dam, the police are now only investigating a case of a missing person.
“The police can only investigate a murder case if it can be proven beyond all reasonable doubt that a murder did indeed take place,” said Capt Dawie Pretorius of Mbombela SAPS.
Read: No case against accused mother
“Unless we have found the body and it can be proven that he was murdered or even sold, there is no murder case, even if the mother confessed.” He said that the case was still high on the police’s priority list and they were following up all possible leads.
In a similar case which was reported that same week, a mother was admitted to hospital after allegedly trying to commit suicide. Neighbours found her lying on the floor of her house next to the bodies of her two children.
The 18-month-old girl was reportedly strangled and the body of her five-year-old brother was found with severe bruises to the face and body. Police suspected the mother killed her children before trying to kill herself. This case was withdrawn, also due to an apparent lack of evidence.
“Because there were no eyewitnesses during this crime, there is no way of knowing whether the mother was the killer,” said Lt Robert Makhuvele of Mpumalanga SAPS.
“The mother was kept under police guard while professionals examined her mental state. Until these examinations have been completed, the case has been withdrawn and she is also not under police guard any more,” he said.
