REPORTER

A COUPLE in Mbizana, aged 23 and 32, was arrested after the gruesome discovery of a baby’s body (3) in a bucket in Sulenkama. The baby boy was reported missing by one of the suspects in 2024. 

According to police investigations, it was revealed that the baby was assaulted to death by his stepfather, using a stick whilst they were all in Sulenkama.

After the child’s death, both suspects allegedly put him in a 20-litre bucket, tightly closed with a wire, and secretly buried the child in a small grave.

“The grave where the baby was buried was identified by the couple. It was dug up and the boy’s decomposed body was found still inside the bucket,” said Captain Welile Matyolo.

He confirmed that murder charges against the couple, as well as defeating the ends of justice charges, was added against the female suspect.

The suspects appeared in the Qumbu Magistrate’s Court on Friday, January 23, as police Major General Norman Modishana, the police OR Tambo district commissioner, condemned the brutal murder of an innocent child. 

“It is so heartbreaking and sad that a human life can be lost in such a gruesome manner, but let the law take its course,” he said and applauded investigators for their sterling work in uncovering the truth.