Man kills girl (2)
The two-year-old's mother, Phumzile Mthethwa said her boyfriend came to her home and asked for Lumingaye saying that they were going to the neighbour's house.
A man accused of kidnapping and killing his partner’s two-year-old daughter, Lumingaye Mthethwa, will appear in the Umzumbe Magistrate’s Court on Monday, April 29.
Lumingaye’s mother, Phumzile Mthethwa, said she believes that her boyfriend used a wet towel to suffocate her daughter.
She explained that her daughter was killed in Bangbizo in Mtwalume on April 20.
Mthethwa said she was not at home at the time. She said her boyfriend came to her home and asked for Lumingaye, saying that they were going to the neighbour’s house.
“When he got to my house, he asked my sister Anele for her. He was always at my house, they knew him, and he was used to taking the child, hence, they did not have a problem with him taking her. We were not aware of his ill intentions. My sister did not suspect anything when he did not return the child because I was still not home as well. I was attending a funeral,” she said.
She explained that he was not her child’s father, saying that she had previously opened a case of assault against him after he had injured her twice on her head.
Mthethwa said her boyfriend called her last Sunday at 05:00, telling her to go behind her house and see what she would find there.
She said she found her baby next to the water tank.
“He had covered her upper body with his black jacket and used a plastic basin to cover the bottom half of her body. Her mouth was wide open, and her eyes were closed. I think he wet a towel and used it to suffocate her, it was the towel given to him by my sister to cover her when she felt cold.
I can’t explain how I am feeling. I have been struggling to eat since Saturday. If I could open my heart and show how I have been feeling, I would do that,” she said.
Police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda told Fever that a 34-year-old man was arrested for allegedly kidnapping and killing Lumingaye.
“It is reported to be the child of his girlfriend. It looks like the two argued. The police are still investigating matters surrounding this case,” he said.
The mother said she believed her boyfriend was trying to hurt her by killing her daughter.
She said if it were up to her, he would not be arrested. “I wanted him here to sort him out with my bare hands. But I can’t take the law into my own hands. I wish he could get life sentences that are tripled five times,” she said.
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