Villiersdorp - A three-year-old girl has been left traumatised after spending the night with the bodies of her mother, six-year-old brother and her mother’s boyfriend.
It’s believed the man, only identified as Patrick, murdered Christa September, 28, and her son Tino before hanging himself in her small shack.
The two victims were brutally stabbed and bludgeoned with a hammer, and it is suspected that Christa may have been raped as well.
Christa’s other daughter Crystal, also three, was found unconscious on a blood-soaked bed, while Arisha appeared unharmed.
Christa’s mother, Cecilia Hector, and aunt Sophia Sykes made the gruesome discovery shortly after 11am on Monday when they went to investigate why Christa wasn’t answering her phone.
“When we got there the door was locked and Arisha told us from inside that her mommy is dead, and she burst out crying. So I kicked the door open,” said Sykes.
Inside they saw Christa’s half-naked body lying in the doorway, Patrick, 30, hanging from the ceiling and Tino and Crystal lying on the blood-soaked bed.
The walls and floor of the two-roomed shack in West Side, Villiersdorp, were covered in blood.
“Crystal’s head was swollen, she had a gash behind her ear and one of her eyes was closed. She didn’t respond at all,” said Hector.
“Little Tino’s head was hanging over the bed and when I lifted it, I noticed a deep wound on his forehead.”
Hector said: “We suspect he might have raped Christa because she was naked from the waist down. Arisha is the only one who wasn’t hurt.”
She said police had removed a bloodstained knife and hammer from the scene.
It is suspected that Patrick attacked his girlfriend and her children in a fit of rage after she tried to leave him.
The young mother visited her parents over the weekend and came home on Sunday evening.
Her sister Joyce September, 33, said: “The last thing she said to me was that she wants to dump him because he made her feel like a prisoner and abused her.”
Police spokesperson Constable Noloyiso Rwexana confirmed that police are investigating charges of murder and attempted murder.
Daily Voice