SOUTH AFRICA – A Limpopo woman has been arrested after allegedly beating her 11-month-old baby to death over the weekend.
Police said in a statement that the 42-year-old woman reportedly locked herself and the infant inside a hut, and she started hitting the child. Community members came to the boy’s rescue, but were too late to prevent his death, said police.
Community members reportedly heard the frantic cries of the baby and rushed to the house. After realising that the door was locked, they then broke [down the door], opened it and rescued the badly injured baby from the mother,” the statement said.
The baby was rushed to the local Lambani clinic but was declared dead on arrival. As anger boiled in the Halambani Tswinganani village over the incident, Limpopo police commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembi Hadebe urged residents to desist from taking the law into their own hands, but rather to allow it to take its course.
