A 29 year old man from Bhobhoyi near Port Shepstone, who allegedly murdered his four year old stepson, was later found hanging from a tree, a few metres away from his residence.

According to reports the boy had suffered multiple injuries and died on arrival at Murchison Hospital.

It is believed the stepfather initially claimed that the boy had collapsed at their Bhobhoyi home. According to the child’s mother, her son was left in the care of the stepfather while she had gone to work.

During the course of the day, the man called the mother to report that her son had collapsed and that she must come home immediately.

The child was rushed to hospital but died soon after. The next day police were called out to the house in Bhobhoyi where they found that the stepfather had used his shoelaces to hang himself from a tree.

Police spokesperson, Captain Petros Mpinge said police received a report about the incident last Monday at about 20:00.

Initially, after the child’s death, an inquest case docket was investigated by Port Shepstone detectives.

After the stepfather was found hanging from the tree, another inquest docket was registered for investigation.

“The initial inquest was changed to a murder case after the post-mortem results on the four year old revealed that the child had multiple blunt force injuries on his body,” added Mpinge.

Police were unable to provide more information on the incident.