A 24-year old mom from Mpumalanga has been and charged with murder after she allegedly threw her child on the floor in the heat of an argument with her partner.
Mpumalanga mom jailed for allegedly killing newborn
According to News24, the woman and child were allegedly locked out of the house by the father on Friday night, 11 June. It’s believed the woman travelled to a farm in Avontuur, near Middelburg, on that fateful night, where the father works. She then allegedly threatened to kill the child if he did not let them in.
Murder-accused mom faces additional charges
in a statement released by Mpumalanga police, Brigadier Leonard Hlathi revealed that in processing the the 24-year-old suspect, it was discovered that she may have been living in South Africa without legal immigration documents.
“The investigation by the police has since revealed that the woman is originally from Zimbabwe and she is not in possession of legal documents to be in South Africa, hence a charge of contravention of the Immigration Act has been added to the murder charge,” Hlathi stated
Is filicide a silent epidemic not talked about?
Mpumalanga’s acting provincial commissioner Major General Thulani Phahla condemned the heinous end to the newborn’s life. The top-cop pleaded with couples to not use children to settle personal scores.
Children who are killed in this nature are, in technical terms, referred to as victims of filicide. While statistical data is not available on this form of murder, CNN has compiled an infographic of filicide murders in the US and the numbers are scary, to say the least.
Generally, the rates of filicide keeps increasing every year due to parents not getting along. The problem usually starts with the parents not initially wanting a child , with one parent using this unplanned birth as leverage.