Police have arrested a 23-year-old mother and her 32-year-old boyfriend.
Police have arrested a 23-year-old mother and her 32-year-old boyfriend for the alleged murder of their baby, who was stuffed in a bucket and buried in a shallow grave in the Eastern Cape.
The couple were handcuffed by the Sulenkama police just before 8pm on Wednesday, for the alleged murder of their three-year-old baby boy.
Murder
Police said the murder was committed in Gqwesa locality, Sulenkama, on 1 September 2024.
Police spokesperson Captain Welile Matyolo said the mother reported to Mbizana police in 2024 that her 3-year-old baby boy had gone missing at a petrol filling station in Mbizana.
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Baby assaulted
However, police investigations through CCTV cameras painted a different picture.
“Further investigations revealed that the baby was assaulted to death, allegedly by his stepfather, using a stick whilst they were all in Sulenkama where his mother’s boyfriend is still working. It is alleged that the child was born whilst both suspects were already in a relationship, but the boyfriend is not the father of the child,” Matyolo said.
“After the child’s death, both suspects allegedly put him in a 20-litre bucket, tightly closed it with a wire and secretly buried the child in a small grave.”
Grim discovery
Matyolo said the mother thereafter went to the Mbizana police station to report the child as missing.
“The couple showed police the baby boy’s grave in Sulenkama, and it was dug, and the decomposed body of the boy was found still inside the bucket.
“Murder charges have been laid against the duo, whilst defeating the ends of justice charge has been added to the female suspect. Both suspects are to appear before Qumbu Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 23/01, facing their charges,” Matyolo said.
‘Heartbreaking
OR Tambo Police District Commissioner, Major General Norman Modishana, expressed sadness over the incident.
“It is so heartbreaking and sad that a human life can be lost in such a gruesome manner but let the law take its course” whilst condemning the brutal murder of an innocent child.
Modishana also applauded the investigators for their sterling work in uncovering the truth.
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