Limpopo mother allegedly beat infant son to death while ’praying’

On Sunday the woman locked herself and the infant inside her house and then started hitting him while praying.

PRETORIA, June 2 (ANA) – A 42-year-old mother from Ha-Lambani Tswinganani village in Limpopo province has appeared in court after she was arrested for allegedly beating her 11-month-old baby to death.

Mutavhatsindi Mushavhani was arrested on Monday, according to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

“It is alleged that on Sunday the mother locked herself and the boy inside her house while praying (and) then started hitting the child,” NPA Limpopo spokeswoman Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said in a statement.

Community members heard the baby cry and rushed to the house, breaking down the door. The badly injured infant was rushed to the local clinic but was declared dead on arrival.

The case was postponed to June 29 for further investigations, Malabi-Dzhangi said.

In April, a Limpopo man on trial for allegedly killing his four children distanced himself from the crime and accused his brother of framing him for the murders.

Former lawyer Lucas Phasha stated during his trial in the Polokwane high court that he believed a local businessman was behind the murders as retaliation for a row over a transaction.

He said the businessman and his brother were conspiring to send him to prison.

Phasha made the assertion despite having gone on a Facebook rant before the murder, where he made reference to the children’s killing. In the post, he accused his wife of allegedly cheating on him and infecting him with HIV and warned that she would never see him and the children again.

– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa