Toddler left home alone dies in balcony plunge, mom attempts suicide

A three-year-old boy who was left alone at home died when he fell from the third-floor balcony of his parents' Roodepoort flat, Gauteng police said.

"The child took a chair and jumped over the balcony," Warrant Officer Nonhlanhla Khumalo said.

It appeared the mother had locked the child inside the flat when she went to the shops on Saturday. When she returned and realised what had happened, she allegedly tried to commit suicide by drinking poison. She was taken to hospital and was discharged on Tuesday.

Khumalo said the child's father had asked police to give them time to prepare the funeral before continuing their investigations. An inquest docket was opened.

Police still had to get the mother's side of the story, Khumalo said.

Source: News24