BOMBELA – A year ago incidents where mothers abandoned their new babies in bush alongside the road were extremely high, especially in the Lowveld region in areas such as KaBokweni.
But a year later things have changed. This publication recently learnt that cases where moms were killing their innocent babies were turning out to be the norm.
Not so long ago mothers claimed that they killed their babies.
Mpumalanga News discovered one was not detained since there had not been enough evidence to charge her with murder and another mom who was also initially charged with the murder of her two children was also set free due to the same situation.
In a bizarre incident residents of Barberton were left in shock after a 54-year-old man allegedly threatened to kill his six-year-old granddaughter after accusing her of stealing his money and food.
The suspect allegedly dragged the child with a cable wire wrapped around her neck.
The child sustained bruises around her neck and was taken to Barberton General Hospital for treatment.
He made his first appearance at the Barberton Magistrate’s Court where he was denied bail.
The suspect said he didn’t want to kill the child, but had wanted to teach her a lesson that she would never forget.
Const Tutu Nkosi confirmed the incident. “The suspect has been arrested and was charged with attempted murder and child abuse,” said Nkosi.
The suspect was remanded in custody and will appear again on Friday.
Such incidents were recently condemned by the MEC for community safety, security and liaison, Mr Vusi Shongwe.
“I don’t think that the man is in a good state of mind.How can a mature and grown man act like that against a child regardless of whether she stole the money or not?” asked Shongwe.
He stated that an adult is supposed to guide a child, not drag her with a wire.
“I strongly condemn the incident. I hope the law will take its course and social workers will play their role by intervening and provide counselling to the little one,” he concluded.
