S.Africa: Mob justice and protests after Black woman beats her 11 month old baby to death
The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe is strongly cautioning community members of Halambani Tswinganani village under Tshaulu policing area to desist from engaging in any violent protests following the killing of an 11-months-old bay by his mother on Sunday, 30 May 2021.
It is alleged that a 42-year-old woman locked herself and her 11-months-old baby inside the hut and started beating the child. The local community members reportedly heard the frantic cries of the baby and rushed to the house. After realizing that the door was locked, they then broke the door open and rescued the badly injured baby from the mother.
The baby was rushed to the local Lambani Clinic but was unfortunate declared deceased on arrival.
“We strongly warn community members in that part of our Province to desist from taking the law into their own hands as this would make them criminally liable but must instead give the police space to legally deal with this gruesome incident”, said Lieutenant General Hadebe.
The motive for the incident is not clear at this stage but domestic violence cannot be ruled out.
The woman has been arrested on a charge of murder and police investigations are continuing.