A 21-year-old mother has been arrested for allegedly killing and burying her son in a shallow grave at Ha- Mutsha Tshirangadzi last Wednesday.
The spokesperson for the police, Brig Motlafela Mojapelo, said that the young mother had been rescued by the police from the hands of angry local community members. This after the woman was allegedly seen on Sunday, 1 March, carrying her baby boy, purportedly taking him to the local clinic. She was seen again the next day, on Monday, with the same baby, but on Tuesday, 3 March, the baby was nowhere to be seen. Community members became suspicious that something bad might have happened to the baby.
Mojapelo said that the woman was confronted by the same community members last Wednesday. They allegedly threatened her with violence, asking her where the baby was. The police were then called, and they managed to rescue her.
The police proceeded with investigations, probing the whereabouts of the baby. The woman initially told them the child had become sick and she had decided to take him to the clinic and later to the local hospital. She alleged the baby had subsequently died on Monday (2nd) and that she had thrown his body into the local river.
Members of the South African Search and Rescue Unit were summoned to the scene as a result and, on arrival, they immediately commenced with a search-and-rescue mission. After the body could not be found in the river, the police continued with investigations, which led them to a spot where the body was found buried in a shallow grave.
A case of murder has now been opened and police investigations are continuing. The motive for this incident in unknown at this stage.
The suspect, Ms Suzan Sebonyere, appeared in the Vuwani Magistrate's Court and she was remanded in custody till 15 April for further investigations.