Police spokesperson Sabata Mokgwabone says the 16-year-old boy was arrested by police in that area after confessing to killing the toddler.

He was allegedly the last person to be seen with her on Sunday evening along the N12 road.

Mokgwabone says her body was discovered by police with the help of the suspect the next day at around 10:00.

“The minor, who is being processed in terms of the Child Justice Act, 2008 (Act No. 75 of 2008), was subsequently apprehended on Monday 21 September 2020. He was handed over to the police by a local pastor whom he allegedly confided in that he killed a young girl and left her body in the bushes not far from Boitumelong. The investigation into the matter continues,” he adds.

The 16-year-old on Tuesday appeared in the Bloemhof Magistrates’ Court on and will be remanded in custody until Wednesday 14 October 2020, for legal representation.

Last week, Free State police confirmed that nine-year-old Boipelo Mesi from Kroonstad was found murdered by community members in the area.

A few days later police spokesperson Motantsi Makhele confirmed that two more women (aged 50 and 56), were found with stab wounds in the Chris Hani informal settlement in Bloemfontein.

This, as the country continues to be rocked by murders of women and children, mere weeks after the country commemorated Women’s Month - with intentions to highlight the scourge of Gender-Based Violence.

Meanwhile, the North West Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, expressed his shock at the killing of the latest minor.

OFM News