The lifeless body of a two-year-old boy was discovered with what looked like rodent bitemarks on his face, when his mother woke up on Saturday morning at their house in Temba (Hammanskraal).

The family of Ramotse village in Temba, thinks that Thabang Tsoko, was attacked by a rodent while he was sleeping on Friday night.

“The family suspects that he was bitten by a rat while sleeping and because of an illness he was unable to move or cry,” says police spokesperson Sergeant Herman Moremi.

The boy’s aunt, Evelyn Tsoku, says she heard the boy’s mother screaming and calling her to come to her room the next morning, and they were shocked to find what appeared to be wounds on his face.

“When I got there she was crying, and the child was bitten all over his face. The child did not cry at night, and we thought he was sleeping.”

Tsoku says he was well when he went to bed the previous night.

Tsoku says the way that Thabang died left the family with many unanswered questions.

“We do not know what time this might have happened. Another strange thing is that there was no blood where he was sleeping.”

Tsoku says they are waiting for the post-mortem to tell them what happened. She said the boy’s mother is struggling to accept his death.

“She is not well. She was recently in the hospital and just when she came back, she loses her child,” she says.

“My heart is broken. I struggle to sleep at night because we still ask ourselves what would have eaten him like this. We are scared that this might happen again because we have other children in the house.”

On Tuesday, Temba police along with the local CPF and Makopo Constructions visited the family to donate blankets and groceries.

Moremi says the Temba station commander, Brigadier Johannes Tau, was touched by Thabang’s sudden passing and ordered police to assist the family in any way possible.

Moremi says the police were investigating the case and were still waiting for post-mortem results to confirm the cause of death.