Pretoria - A Gauteng father from Soshanguve has been found guilty of killing of his two-year-old son and attempting to murder of his eight and 11-year-old sons.
He was also found guilty of rape of his partner who is the mother of his children, and further three counts of contravention of the protection order.
The father’s name can’t be mentioned as it will reveal the identity of the children.
The father was in a relationship with the mother of the children from 2004 until 2018.
She applied for a protection order against the accused. However, he contravened the interim protection order by assaulting her, breaking into her house, and raping her.
“On 24 August 2019, he fetched the two-year-old son from his mother and proceeded to fetch the two sons aged eight and 11, at their paternal grandmother’s place, taking them to his place.
“On their way, he fed them Viennas and Russians that were laced with poison, and when the 11-year-old refused to eat the Viennas, he assaulted him and forced him to eat,” said National Prosecution Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana.
Mahanjana said the children eventually fell ill, and he called their mother and told her he was going to kill the children.
“When the mother arrived she found the lifeless body of the two-year-old on top of his bed. She called the police and took the two children to the hospital.”
The accused was arrested the same day at a railway station where he tried to kill himself and has been in custody since.
The matter was postponed to November 7-11, 2022, for sentencing proceedings.
IOL