Relative arrested for rape and murder of KZN toddler

A KwaZulu-Natal mother has said she felt sick to her stomach when she learnt that police had arrested a close relative for the horrific rape and murder of her 18-month-old daughter.

The suspect appeared in the Esikhawini Magistrate's Court on Monday for a bail application.

Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said the man faces charges of murder and rape. The case was postponed to July 23 and he remains in custody.

The 34-year-old mother is meanwhile battling to cope with the tragedy. She told TimesLive she was initially informed by the child's father - with whom the toddler had been living in Ncombe in the north of the province‚ since December - that she had died "suddenly."

“When her father called me to let me know she was dead‚ I felt numb. I couldn’t believe it because she was not a child who got sick a lot so I couldn’t understand how she died‚” the woman said.

Two days after the child's death last week‚ the grieving mother received another shocking call from the toddler's father to tell her police had arrested a relative in connection with her rape and murder. “I felt sick‚ he was the last person I would have expected to do this to my child‚ he was like a father to her‚” she said.