The Provincial Commissioner of the police in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma, is perturbed about an act which was committed by a 19-year-old woman who allegedly murdered her child and buried her in a shallow grave. The suspect was remanded in custody following her appearance at the Embalenhle Magistrate’s Court on 24 February 2020, on a charge of murder.
The suspect was arrested by police on Friday after the discovery of a skeleton at her place of residence last week Friday, 21 February 2020, believed to be that of her two year old daughter.
According to reports, the remains were discovered by the suspect’s 13-year-old nephew in the garden while preparing to plant potatoes. Whilst he was digging the soil, the teenager noticed what looked like a human skull and immediately called his uncle, who responded swiftly and in turn called the police after the gruesome discovery.
Upon arrival, police confirmed that it was a human skull, they then summoned the Forensic team of the police to the scene, where the rest of the human remains were found buried in a shallow grave in the garden. Police immediately conducted preliminary investigations which revealed that the suspect’s two year old daughter had not been seen by the family since December 2019. It later surfaced that the skeletal remains could possibly be those of her daughter.
Police then traced the 19-year-old woman, who is alleged to be the mother and enquired about the whereabouts of her daughter. She informed police that her child went for a family ritual ceremony in Lesotho. However, she later confessed that she killed her daughter and buried her in the backyard garden.
The woman was arrested and hence her Court appearance on Monday 24 February 2020
The Provincial Commissioner has once again strongly condemned the killing of children allegedly by their own parents. “This is yet another sad story of a little defenceless girl whose life was cut short by her own biological mother, who was supposed to be loving, protecting and caring for the little girl. The right to life is enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and no one has any right whatsoever to take another person’s life, such incidents are heart-wrenching. Young mothers who feel overwhelmed by such a responsibility or are going through any challenges are encouraged to seek assistance at relevant institutions so as to prevent such incidents. This is the third gruesome incident in a short space of time where children were found to have been murdered by their own parents,” said General Zuma.
During her Court appearance yesterday, the 19 year old woman did not plead and was remanded in custody for further investigation. She is expected to appear again at the same Court within seven days.
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