Woman in dock for allegedly killing baby

A 21-year-old woman was expected to appear in the Vuwani Magistrate’s Court on Friday in connection with the alleged recent murder of her two-week-old male baby at Mutsha Tshirangadzi village in the Levubu area.
Provincial Police Communications Head Motlafela Mojapelo indicated that the woman was allegedly seen by community members with the baby last Sunday and Monday but on Tuesday they noticed that she no longer had the baby with her.
Mojapelo said the community members then became suspicious that something bad might have happened to the baby. This resulted in the mother being confronted by community members who threatened to hurt her while asking her about the whereabouts of the baby.

The Police were called and removed her from the community so that the matter could be investigated. The woman initially told the Police that the child had fallen ill and subsequently died on Monday. According to Mojapelo she alleged that she had thrown the body into the local river.
Members of the Search and Rescue Unit were summoned and conducted a search of the river yielded no corpse. Further investigation then led Police to a nearby spot where the body was found buried in a shallow grave, Mojapelo indicated.
The woman was arrested and charged with murder. The motive for the alleged killing is unknown.
Provincial Police Commissioner Nneke Ledwaba has warned the affected community members to desist from taking the law into their own hands and give the Police the necessary space to conduct investigations unhindered.

Story: RC Myburgh
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