Eastern Cape mother arrested for horrific murder of toddler

An Eastern Cape mother is appearing at the Peddie Magistrate Court on Wednesday after she was arrested on Monday for allegedly assaulting her two-year-old son and setting him alight.

In a horrific incident on Monday evening at around 10 pm, the Peddie police were notified by members of the Crossroad Village community about a 41-year-old woman who allegedly assaulted her two-year-old boy and set his alight.

The Eastern Cape police said that upon their arrival, they found the body of the toddler.

Daughter witnessed incident and alerted community

“It is alleged that the mother assaulted her child in front of her seven-year-old daughter, a sibling, who alerted the community,” the police said.

The mother was arrested on Monday and charged with murder.

ALSO READ: North West mother confesses to son’s murder after year-long disappearance

Meanwhile, the daughter, who unfortunately witnessed the incident, is currently in the custody of a family member.

The Eastern Cape police commissioner, Lieutenant General Nomthetheleli Mene, said he was shocked and horrified by the incident.

“As the police, gender-based violence against women and children is one of the main acts we condemn,” said Mene.

“Whatever circumstance that might have led her to allegedly kill her own child is unjustifiable. I have spoken to the investigating team that this case be given priority.”

North West Mother confesses to son’s murder after year-long disappearance

Recently, a North West community got a mother to confess to killing her son and burying him in a shallow grave, a year after the child’s disappearance.

ALSO READ: Three-year-old dies after being caught in parents’ love triangle

A 31-year-old mother confessed to community members and a councillor that she and her boyfriend killed her four-year-old boy and buried him in a shallow grave in the bushes.

The mother and her 26-year-old boyfriend were nabbed by the police for the toddler’s death on 4 July this year.

North West police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Funani said the couple allegedly killed the boy and buried him in a shallow grave in the bushes on the outskirts of Boitekong.

The couple appeared before the Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday.