The Soweto actress who allegedly murdered her son because she believed he was possessed by a demon, might be admitted to a mental hospital before appearing in court, Soweto police said on Monday. The woman may not be named until she appears in court. She has appeared in the soap opera Generations and in the crime drama series Justice for All.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Mbazima Shiburi said the woman had been admitted to Chris-Hani Baragwanath Hospital after detectives decided against leaving her in a police cell on her own.
The woman was due to appear in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Monday but she may be admitted to the Sterkfontein mental hospital.
According to a police statement the woman was sharing a house with a friend in Emdeni Extension. Her housemate told the police she woke up early on Sunday morning to prepare food for her own child and the now-dead toddler.
Her housemate asked her for a glass of water and when she went into the room, she saw the toddler’s body on the floor, with ”brains on the floor and his eyes on an iron,” Shiburi said.
The baby also had scratch marks on his stomach.
A Bible had been placed over his face and the woman apparently took out a photo album and pointed to another child, saying that this was her real child and that the dead child had been possessed.
Her housemate immediately ran for help and the woman was arrested. – Sapa