Two days before a 36-year-old man allegedly raped and murdered his girlfriend’s eight-day-old baby, neighbours heard gunshots coming from the couple’s rented room.
Neighbours in Welverdiend, Carletonville, west of Johannesburg told Sowetan how the couple had a violent relationship even during the woman’s pregnancy. The couple cannot be named as the man has not pleaded to the rape and murder charge he is facing.
“There were many gunshots, more than three... it was not the first time we heard gunshots. This would be the third time in just weeks. He was very violent with her and he would hit her. The fights were so intense that we would sometimes hear them,” said one neighbour about the incident that occurred on June 8.
“During her pregnancy, they would fight and he would manhandle her. It was disturbing,” said the neighbour.
It is alleged that on June 8, the man snatched the baby from her mother following an argument and disappeared with her for hours. He then returned later with an injured baby and left it with the mother before he took off.
Another neighbour said on the day of the incident, the landlord where the couple had been renting, came running to her asking that she call the police because an infant had been snatched.
“People started searching for him (the suspect)... Hours later he emerged with the baby in hand saying the baby was struggling to breathe. He left the baby with the mother and took off while we were trying to call for help.”
Oddly, residents along Railway Street described the man as being respectful and polite with them.
One neighbour said while they suspected that the man may have had a drug problem, he always greeted and would never pass without finding out how they were doing.
“He had an interesting persona around us, he was always very kind with us. He was respectful and very polite to us. He would greet and refer to me as ‘Oom’. But he was different with her and we all knew,” said the neighbour.
Another neighbour said the woman confided in her that the baby was not the suspect’s biological child. “She said that she would tell him the truth and before the actual incident she was contemplating telling him. It must be that she did in fact tell him.”
The neighbours said the last time the mother of the baby was seen was on the day of the incident. She left their room soon after the incident.
The infant was declared dead at a local hospital and the man was arrested a day after the incident. He faces a charge of rape and murder and is expected to appear at the Oberholzer magistrate’s court next month.
sibiyan@sowetan.co.za
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