Limpopo woman accused of strangling newborn baby to death, dumping body in pit toilet
A 21-year-old woman was arrested on Wednesday for the murder of her newborn daughter in a village in Limpopo.
She allegedly used a shoelace to strangle the child and dumped her in a pit toilet.
According to police spokesperson, Brigadier Hlulani Mashaba, the woman was at home with the 12-day-old baby and her mother in Tshitavha village.
'The victim was sleeping inside a one-roomed house when her grandmother informed the suspect that she was going to irrigate the crops at the fields. The grandmother of the deceased spent an hour at the fields and returned to the residence,' said Mashaba.
When she entered the house, the baby's grandmother asked her daughter to wake up the baby and breastfeed her.
'The suspect responded that her daughter had fallen inside a pit toilet, but the grandmother thought perhaps she was joking and asked her for the second time to breastfeed the baby,' said Mashaba.
'The 21-year-old mother repeated the same answer that her daughter had fallen inside the pit toilet. The grandmother immediately called the neighbours to assist in taking the baby out of the pit toilet.'
Police and paramedics were summoned, but the baby was certified dead on their arrival.
'The mother of the deceased confessed that she strangled her with a shoelace until she lost consciousness and later threw her daughter inside the pit toilet,' said Mashaba.
'The 21-year-old mother was immediately placed under arrest on the scene,' he added.
The woman is expected to appear in the Dzanani Magistrate's Court on Friday.
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