File
Eastern Cape police arrested a 43-year-old man for the brutal murder of a five-year-old Alexandra girl they said may have been beaten to death with a spade.
Police spokesperson, Colonel Priscilla Naidu, said Alexandra police were alerted by the suspect, who is the child’s uncle, of a person being assaulted at his house in Pendu Street in Kwanonqubela.
She said when police arrived on the scene after receiving the call at 05:40 on Saturday, they found the “battered” body of five-year-old Siphenathi Xhali, lying on the lounge floor.
She had multiple wounds to the body.
Naidu said the suspect was “very drunk and incoherent to give an account of what had happened.”
“It is suspected that she was murdered with a spade which was later found in a neighbour’s yard. It is also suspected that the child may have been raped," she said.
The suspect is detained on a charge of murder and is expected to appear in the Kenton-On-Sea Magistrate Court next week.
“Pending the results of the post-mortem report, an additional charge of rape may be added,” Naidu said.
Provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nomthetheleli Mene has condemned the brutal killing of little Siphenathi, which came at a time when the country is marking 16 Days of No Violence against Women and Children.
