FATHER STRANGLES, HITS BABY ON HEAD TO DEATH

MANZINI – A seven-month-old baby died after being strangled and hit with a blunt object on the head, allegedly by her father.

The incident happened at Mangcongco, which is a community in the western part of the country, located about 78 kilometres from Manzini. According to impeccable sources, the child was allegedly killed by her 29-year-old father following the disintegration of his relationship with the minor’s mother. The father, *Musi, reportedly contacted his live-in lover while she was at work on Tuesday morning. It was gathered from the sources that Musi proposed that she return to her house as he wanted them to talk, following the disintegration of their relationship.

Excused

The mother to the deceased minor was said to have requested to be excused from her place of employment to attend to the said emergency. However, upon arrival at her place of residence, it was gathered that Musi requested that they proceed to talk at a neutral place. The neutral place was said to have been a forest. Sources claimed that the mother of the minor did not adhere to the plea to proceed to the said destination. It was gathered that it was at this instance that Musi supposedly took the minor and left with her to the forest. It was alleged that Musi strangled and hit the minor with a blunt object on the head while in the forest before returning her to the mother. The impeccable sources suspected that the blunt object used by Musi was a stone. In fact, they claimed that he supposedly hit the child with a stone on the head after strangulating her.

Cohabitating

The sources purported that the suspect had been working in one of the forestry contracting companies in the area and had been cohabitating with the mother of the minor, until he lost his employment. After losing his source of income, it was claimed that the relationship between him and his live-in lover became strained following accusations of infidelity. Sources claimed that there were also allegations revolving around the paternity of the child, whom he had purportedly been supporting and was of the belief that she was his. Mangcongco Constituency Headman Nkosingiphile Dlamini said the community was still reeling from shock after the reports of the said murder. Dlamini said he received the report on Tuesday evening but they did not know the suspect as the area was full of people who were working in the forestry industry. The headman said what he had gathered was that the suspect had fled the area after allegedly committing the murder. It was gathered from sources that after fleeing Mangcongco, Musi went to his home area of Malangeni in Mankayane where he then requested family members to accompany him to the police yesterday morning.

Meanwhile, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the murder. She said on Tuesday at about 8am, a seven-month old girl was strangled and hit with a blunt object on the head while at Mangcongco.

Arrested

Vilakati said the minor was certified dead on arrival at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital. She said a male aged 29 from Malangeni was yesterday arrested and charged by the police. Recently, this publication reported that a 20-year-old woman allegedly strangled to death her newborn baby boy and later buried the corpse next to a nearby river. The incident happened on January 24 when the mother was alone at her mother’s home at Ngculwini. The mother of the minor, who resided with her live-in boyfriend in Matsapha, had paid her mother a visit at Ngculwini. It was also discovered that this was the mother’s second child.  It was reported that on the day of the murder, Takhona experienced labour pains while she was alone in her mother’s home. She then gave birth to a baby boy whom she strangulated until he died. It was also reported that she then put the baby in bed until the following morning.

River

The baby was then dressed by his mother, who then put him in a bag and went to the nearby river. Further, it was disclosed that Takhona searched and found a spot near the river, where she saw sand and dug with a disposed old dish, which she found by the river.  The baby was reportedly found by a community member who was collecting the sand and then reported the matter to the police. In another incident, a teenage couple aged 17, allegedly suffocated a six-month-old baby to death. The couple, who were Form II pupils at Mhubhe High School, allegedly agreed to end the child’s life, after allegations that the minor boy was not the biological father of the baby. This incident also happened in the same area, Ngculwini.

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