‘Shocking and brutal’: Uncle arrested for murder of two-year-old girl in Mpumalanga
A 24-year-old man has been arrested for the alleged murder of his two-year-old niece at Phola Park in KwaMhlanga, Mpumalanga.
Provincial police spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant Colonel Jabu Ndubane said officers were alerted to the incident on Sunday night, after a local hospital reported that a toddler had been brought in by family members and certified dead on arrival.
When police arrived at the hospital, they found the child’s body lying on a bed with a deep wound to her neck and showing no signs of life.
Preliminary investigations revealed that three children, aged between two and six, were playing outside when the suspect allegedly emerged from a house armed with a knife, grabbed his two-year-old niece without saying a word, forced her to the ground and slit her throat before fleeing the scene.
The other two children reportedly ran inside to alert adults, and the injured child was rushed to hospital, where she later succumbed to her injuries.
Ndubane said the suspect handed himself over to police on Monday and was immediately arrested and charged with murder.
“He is expected to appear before the KwaMhlanga Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday,” Ndubane said.
Acting Mpumalanga provincial police commissioner, Major General Zeph Mkhwanazi, has condemned the killing and extended condolences to the child’s family, describing the incident as shocking and senseless.
“It is shocking to learn that an innocent child was brutally murdered by a family member. We will ensure that the law takes its course,” said Mkhwanazi.
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za
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