A two-year-old boy died from head injuries after his brother hit him with a garden hoe in Endicott, Springs, police said on Wednesday.
The boy’s mother had left him playing with his eight-year-old brother when the incident happened on December 24, said East Rand police spokesperson Superintendent Andy Pieke.
”The 30-year-old mother said she found her toddler badly injured, allegedly by the brother, when she returned,” he said. ”The boy was then taken to a hospital by ambulance. He was released immediately after his head had been stitched up.”
Pieke said the boy’s condition worsened a day after the incident. ”He had to be admitted to hospital again but he died four days later.”
A murder case is being investigated, but police will hand over the matter to the director of public prosecutions for a decision on whether to prosecute or not.
”The [director] will decide whether any person should face criminal charges or whether the case should be investigated as an inquest docket,” he said.
Pieke could not release the name of the two-year-old victim as the alleged offender is a minor. — Sapa