Alleged baby-killer for mental observation

The family of the woman who had allegedly hacked her three-month-old baby boy to death said the tragedy could have been averted had they had known before that she had fallen sick with a mental condition.

Ms Ntshieni Khuphani (30) of Ha-Mutsha Codesa allegedly hacked one of her twin boys to death with an axe at a time when she was receiving spiritual care at one of the local churches in the village on Saturday morning.

Archbishop Enos Khuphani of the Gundo La Vhutshilo Apostolic Christian Church at Hamutsha Codesa said the mother was brought to the church on Thursday for spiritual assistance for her mental condition. “This is not the first time she came here. Three years ago, I prayed for her for this condition and she was healed. On Friday, I left her at the church to get milk for the babies, who were crying because they were hungry. Just after buying the milk, I received a call that she had killed one of the babies after telling the attendants that she wanted water,” said Khuphani.

Limpopo police spokesperson Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi said that they had laid a murder charge. "The suspect, Ntsieni Khuphani, appeared briefly in the Vuwani Magistrate’s Court on Monday and has been referred to a mental institution for observation. The case was postponed to 30 June, pending the results of the observation," said Mulaudzi.

Date:30 May 2014

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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