Nanny arrested for allegedly strangling toddler to death

By Citizen Reporter

A woman tasked with caring for a 20-month-old boy has been arrested for allegedly strangling him to death, TimesLive reports.

28-year-old Lerato Mnguni hired the nanny through a placement agency in Tembisa and she had been caring for the child since he was only two months old. She lived with the family on their property.

Mnguni returned from work to her home in Daveyton, Ekurhuleni, last Friday to find her son Langelihle gone, with the carer claiming he had been abducted.

His body was, however, discovered in a storeroom on the property not long afterwards. Despite the efforts of his 40-year-old father Sihle to resuscitate him for over an hour, Langelihle didn’t make it.

While the carer claimed that both herself and the child were forced to consume poison by intruders, a post-mortem revealed that the boy had been strangled and had a fractured neck. No poison was involved.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters told TimesLive: “A woman is expected to make a second appearance in court next week following the death of a 20-month-old toddler. She appeared in the Benoni magistrate’s court [on Monday] after a preliminary investigation by the police linked her to the death of the child. She was arrested on Friday, the 18th.

“Initially, the woman had claimed to police that robbers had come into the house and forced her to consume poison as well as the child. The child was found dead while the woman was rushed to hospital. But when police conducted the initial investigation surrounding the death of the child, the woman was found to be a possible suspect,” Peters added.

The nanny was initially found topless and praying on the floor in her bedroom. A white substance was allegedly found around her, she was wounded and had vomited and defecated.

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