Beaufort West - A man arrested after allegedly severely assaulting his girlfriend's two-year-old son appeared in the Beaufort West Magistrate's Court on Monday, Western Cape police said.
The matter was postponed to next Monday to allow the 28-year-old suspect to get legal representation and for further investigation, Captain Malcolm Pojie said.
The man is facing a charge of attempted murder.
He was arrested on Saturday after a local community radio station appealed for help finding him.
This was after the man allegedly kept his girlfriend and her child captive in their home in Khanya Street, Mandela Square, Beaufort West on Thursday.
They were held captive from the time they woke up until 2.45pm, when the woman escaped, Pojie said on Sunday.
“A witness account by the mother reveals that the suspect slapped and kick(ed) the boy in the face, burned his feet with boiling water, put a cement brick on the boy's chest and stamped his feet on it and also forced the boy to eat his own faeces,” Pojie said.
People outside the home heard the mother cry and one of them broke a window to get into the house to rescue the child. The man then fled the scene.
“The child was transported to hospital by ambulance and immediately transferred to George hospital due to the severity of the injuries he sustained.
“The boy, who had undergone an emergency procedure at the George hospital, has shown satisfactory results although he is still in a serious condition,” Pojie said.
Sapa