Africa-Press – South-Africa. A father of three from Soshanguve in Gauteng has been found guilty of killing his 2-year-old son and attempting to kill his two other sons by feeding them viennas and russians laced with poison.
He was also found guilty of three counts of contravening a protection order and raping the mother of his children with whom he had been in a relationship for 14 years.
He was convicted in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.
According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, a protection order was granted to the mother of the three boys against the man on 8 January 2019.
Mahanjana said the man, however, violated the order by breaking into her house and assaulting and raping her.
Grief-stricken mother wants answers after toddler dies, allegedly after consuming poison
According to Mahanjana, the court heard the testimony of how the man’s family pressured the woman to drop the charge of rape.
On 24 August 2019, he fetched the 2-year-old boy from his mother and proceeded to fetch the other two boys, aged 8 and 11, from their paternal grandmother’s place. He then took them to his residence, said Mahanjana.
Mahanjana said:
She said the children became ill after arriving at the man’s residence. The man then called their mother and told her he would kill them.
“The mother arrived and found the lifeless body of the 2-year-old on top of his bed. She called the police and took the two other children to the hospital,” Mahanjana said.
She said the man was arrested on the same day at a railway station after he had tried to kill himself. He has been in custody since his arrest.
According to Mahanjana, the judge noted discrepancies in the man’s testimony. The judge found the testimony of the two children to be honest and credible, resulting in the State proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt, she added.
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