A man has been arrested for the murder of his ex-girlfriend and her two-year old daughter who were found strangled in their home in Mpumalanga province.
Police allege that the suspect killed the two in the presence of a five-month-old baby he has with his late ex-girlfriend, Promise Khubeka, on Tuesday. The incident happened in Siyathemba, Balfour.
Police allege that the 32-year-old suspect came to the house and killed Khubeka and her daughter before he left the scene with his own child and then reported the murder to the police the next morning.
“The report indicated that police received information that there was a murder which occurred at the said place and they swiftly attended to it where upon arrival [they] found a woman lying on the kitchen floor unresponsive as well as a two-year-old girl's lifeless body in the bedroom with an injury on her neck.
“They were both certified dead at the scene by paramedics,” said provincial police spokesperson Brig Selvy Mohlala.
He said police conducted their investigation and arrested the suspect.
Mohlala said they suspected that the suspect might have killed the two and left the scene, only to return in the morning pretending to know nothing about their death.
“We took him for questioning as we suspected something due to his behaviour where he grabbed his child from the crime scene and left and [for] calling the police,” said Mohlala.
The suspect is expected to appear in the Balfour magistrate's court on Thursday to face two charges of murder and one of defeating the ends of justice.
Kubheka’s sister Sibongile said her family was still struggling to come to terms with the murders.
“It's very hard. We are still shocked about the death of my sister and her child. She was a down to earth person who loved her children,” said Sibongile.
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