Two days before a 36-year-old man allegedly raped and murdered his girlfriend’s eight-day-old baby, neighbours allegedly heard gunshots coming from the couple’s rented room.
Neighbours in Welverdiend, Carletonville, west of Johannesburg, said the couple had a violent relationship, even during the woman’s pregnancy. The couple cannot be named as the man has not pleaded to the rape and murder charges he faces.
“There were many gunshots, more than three ... it was not the first time we heard gunshots. This would be the third time in just weeks. He was violent with her and he hit her. The fights were so intense we would sometimes hear them,” one neighbour alleged after the incident that occurred on June 8.
“During her pregnancy, they would fight and he would manhandle her. It was disturbing,” said the neighbour.
It is alleged that on June 8 the man snatched the baby from her mother after an argument and disappeared with her for hours. He returned later with the injured baby and left it with the mother before he fled.
Another neighbour said on the day of the incident the landlord where the couple had been renting came running to her asking that she call the police because an infant had been snatched.
“People started searching for him [the suspect]. Hours later he emerged with the baby, saying the baby was struggling to breathe. He left the baby with the mother and [fled] while we were trying to call for help.”
Residents along Railway Street described the man as respectful and polite to them.
One neighbour said he always greeted them and never passed without asking how they were.
“He had an interesting persona around us, he was always very kind to us. He was respectful and polite to us. He would greet and refer to me as ‘oom’. But he was different with her,” said the neighbour.
The neighbours said the last time the mother was seen in the area was on the day of the incident. She left their room soon after the incident.
The infant was declared dead at a local hospital and the man was arrested a day after the incident. He faces a charge of rape and murder and is expected to appear in the Oberholzer magistrate’s court next month.
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