Pretoria – A Limpopo man allegedly killed his two-year-old daughter by strangling her, and attempted to kill his other daughter, 7, at Moleketla village in Limpopo’s Bolobedu policing district, on Good Friday.
Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said the 40-year-old man then hanged himself.
“It is alleged that the suspect, who is now deceased, took his two daughters and indicated he was going to kill them. The police were called and along the way they (the police) were stopped by community members, walking with the bloodied surviving seven-year-old child,” said Mojapelo.
“The child took them to the spot where the incident happened and on arrival, police found the two-year-old child already dead from apparent strangulation and the father hanging from a tree.”
Preliminary police investigations showed that both children were living with the father. The mother was in Gauteng.
Limpopo police commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembi Hadebe has strongly condemned the incident. She appealed to community members experiencing relationship challenges to get help.
She urged people “who might be experiencing relationship challenges to seek assistance, and desist from resorting to violence”.
Cases of murder and attempted murder, as well as an inquest docket have been opened. Investigations are continuing.
In December, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) was probing the Tweefontein police station after a police sergeant shot and killed his wife, a police constable, and then turned the gun on himself.
At the time, Ipid spokesperson Grace Langa said the police watchdog would open a case against the police station, after it had failed to report the shocking incident.
IOL