Police rescue toddler that was stabbed and held hostage in Free State

A two-year-old boy was rescued by the police after he was stabbed multiple times and held hostage by a 39-year-old man from Oranjeville, Free State.

On Tuesday, 19 February, the police received a complaint at around 8am about a two-year-old child who was held hostage by a suspect at a home in Metsimahalo.

The suspect allegedly stabbed the child multiple times and threatened to cut his throat.

Suspect stabbed toddler and threatened to cut his throat

Free State Police spokesperson, Sergeant Josephine Rani, said police officers responded to the scene quickly.

The police shot the suspect in the left calf, enabling them to rescue the child.

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The boy was rushed to the clinic for medical attention, and the suspect was arrested for alleged attempted murder. He was set to appear at the Heilbron Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

The arrest of the man for attempted murder comes in the same week as a man in Kagiso, Soweto, was handed a life sentence for strangling his seven-month-old daughter to death.

Father strangles seven-month-old daughter

The Johannesburg High Court sentenced Hloniphani Trust Sithole (30) to life imprisonment, as well as an additional five years for kidnapping, 15 years for robbery and four years for contravening the Immigration Act on Wednesday.

Sithole was in a romantic relationship with the child’s mother, and they lived together until they broke up two weeks before the incident.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said on 26 February 2024, Sithole took the child under the pretence of going shopping, but he never returned.

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The mother reported her daughter missing, and over the next two days, the father sent her messages and photos directing her to the location of their child’s body.

“The police and community members followed these directions and discovered the lifeless body of the infant in an open field. Paramedics later confirmed that she died due to strangulation,” Mjonondwane said.

Mother calls for father to spend life in prison

During the trial, the mother delivered a victim impact statement where she expressed her emotional distress and called for Sithole to spend the rest of his life in prison.

The state’s advocate, Zamikhaya Staffa, emphasised an alarming increase in violence against women and children as she urged the court to impose a harsh sentence.

The court agreed, recognising the prevalence of such crimes and confirming that the deceased’s father caused her to die in agony.

In a separate incident on 7 March 2024, Sithole robbed a complainant at knifepoint, stealing their cellphone and wallet. Community policing forum members apprehended him later and found him in possession of the stolen items.

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