LIMPOPO – Villagers from the rural village of Matavhela near Mafukani outside Thohoyandou are still reeling in shock after a father apparently killed his four-year-old son with a hammer last Thursday before putting the body in the vehicle’s boot.
The crime was seemingly the outcome of an argument between the man and his girlfriend, who had told him that he was not the child’s biological father.
According to Munzhedzi Radzabo, the child’s great-grandmother whom he stayed with in Dzwerani-Mvelaphanda in Vuwani, the father visited them a day before the murder, asking about the child’s mother.
“We never suspected anything as he would usually come to fetch the boy after getting the mother’s permission. We did not know at the time that he and the mother had an argument,” she said.
Another source claimed that the man eventually took the boy to his home village of Matavhela after the visit and apparently told family members of his intention to kill the boy and commit suicide.
“He took the child and went to the Tshamutora mountains near Ha-Tahikundamalema village, later killing the boy and putting the body in the boot of the vehicle. He also had a rope with him, but members of the communities and the police who at the time had been searching for him, arrived and he ran away,” the source told CV.
The man is said to have resisted arrest, and injured a police sergeant in a scuffle that ensued. The cops retaliated and he was shot in the leg, and the police arrested him.
Limpopo police spokesperson, Brig Motlafela Mojapelo confirmed the incident and said police in Mutale are investigating cases of murder and assault.
The man appeared in the Mutale Magistrate’s Court on Monday (September 6). The court outcome is not yet known.
The Chairperson of the Limpopo based organisation, Munna Ndi Nnyi? (Who is the real man?) Dr Bardwell Mufunwaini, said they strongly condemned the murder.
“Real fathers have to protect the mother and children in their families.”
The boy was buried during an emotional funeral at Dzwerani-Mvelaphanda village cemetery on Saturday.
