An eight-year-old girl is in the ICU at the Pretoria East hospital after a man slit her throat ‘execution-style’ while she was visiting her grandmother in Khutsong, Mamelodi East on Sunday.

The girl’s father says that the man suspected of committing the crime is the child’s mother’s boyfriend who cannot be identified to protect the identity of the child.

The father says his daughter and her younger sister lived with their mother and the suspect in Montana. He says the suspect and the mother had an argument when the mother asked the man to leave. He reportedly refused.

“He then resorted to slitting my daughter’s throat in retaliation towards the mother. He went into the grandparents’ house, took a knife from the kitchen and slit her throat execution-style,” he says.

According to the father, the mother was at a carwash during the attack and the daughter was with her sister (5) and grandmother.

“The child’s mother called the police when she returned, finding her daughter’s throat was slit,” he says.

The father says the daughter was admitted to the hospital and is in ICU.

“She was stabilised in Mamelodi hospital and transferred to Pretoria East hospital. I am very hurt and disappointed by this evil deed.”

Reports are that the accused handed himself over to the Hammanskraal police on Monday.

The police have yet to provide any comment.