Man arrested for allegedly murdering son, burying him in shallow grave

A 35-year-old man who allegedly murdered his four-year-old son before burying his body in a shallow grave in the yard of his rented home in Ngwanamatlang village, Limpopo, was arrested on Sunday evening.

According to the police, the suspect, who is a Lesotho national, allegedly suffocated his son sometime over the weekend before digging a grave and burying him.

The police were notified on Sunday after residents noticed what looked like a grave in the suspect’s yard and started questioning him.

“He then tried to run away but was caught and brought back to the scene where he was forced to dig up the soil. The already decomposing body of the child was then retrieved,” police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said in a statement.

“The police were called and on arrival, the suspect had already retrieved the body from the shallow grave. He had to be rescued by the police from the clutches of a mob and was then taken to hospital.”

Mojapelo said the mother of the victim, who is also a Lesotho national, was in Gauteng at the time of the incident, adding the suspect had fetched his son from her two weeks ago.

The motive for this alleged murder was unknown at this stage as the police were still investigating the incident.

The suspect is expected to appear in the Jane Furse Magistrate’s Court after he has recovered from injuries sustained when he was attacked by the mob.

Limpopo police commissioner Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba condemned the incident.

“As the police and the communities are joining hands to fight violence perpetrated against women and children, incidents of this nature must heighten our collective resolve to uproot this scourge from our societies,” Ledwaba said.

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