Woman arrested after daughter’s naked body found in a shallow grave
Woman arrested after daughter’s naked body found in a shallow grave
- A 21-month-old Mpumalanga girl, who had been reported missing, was found buried in a shallow grave.
- The child’s 28-year-old mother has been arrested and charged with murder.
- The cause of death is not yet known.
A 28-year-old woman has been arrested following the discovery of her daughter’s naked body in bushes at the Phake Rebone grazing field in Mmametlhake, Mpumalanga.
The woman has been charged with murder and is expected to appear in the Mbibane Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
Police spokesperson Captain Gugu Phiri said the woman had left home with the child on Friday. She said it was alleged that a resident had seen her heading to the grazing field with the child.
Later that day, the woman returned alone.
“Her family and friends then became suspicious when she returned home without the child. She further fuelled suspicion when she could not provide an answer about the whereabouts of the child. The family then went to the police station and reported the child missing,” Phiri said.
According to Phiri, residents searched for the child, and a passer-by stumbled upon her body on Tuesday.
She said:
“A murder case was opened, and the woman was swiftly arrested in connection with the incident.”
Palm Ridge resident Sharmaine Bahgoo will never forget the moment a mortuary van drove on their street to collect the lifeless and bloodied body of an infant that was allegedly stabbed to death on Wednesday by his uncle.
Phiri said the cause of death was not yet known.
Mpumalanga police commissioner Lieutenant General Semakaleng Manamela strongly condemned the incident and called on residents to care for children and not harm them.
Manamela said she was shocked that children were dying “at the hands of those who are entrusted to care for them and protect them”.
