A 28-year-old man appeared before Witbank Magistrate’s Court yesterday (August 8) after he allegedly set a house alight that claimed the life of a three-year-old boy in Phola, Ogies.

According to the Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela the suspect and the mother of the child supposedly argued in one of the taverns in the area, “It is believed that is what led to the man setting alight the mother’s house where she left her three-year-old son locked up inside,” Manamela said.

He went on to say that police also arrested the mother for child neglect for leaving her child unattended on Saturday, August 5 at around 23:00.

the suspect was allegedly still at the tavern during the course of the fire.

The commissioner further stated that both the suspect and mother were arrested on Sunday, August 6.

“The police condemns any form of child brutality and justice will be served,” Manamela concluded.