The Levubu community is still shocked, following an incident where a 22-year-old farm worker allegedly strangled her two-year-old daughter before throwing her into a pit toilet. The incident, which occurred in February, was only discovered by the Levubu police last Wednesday after a tip-off from members of the community.

The suspect, Ms Vhonani Maano, allegedly killed her daughter at the Bridelia (Boerdery) farm in Levubu. The crime was apparently discovered when Maano’s cousin asked her about the whereabouts of the child, who had suddenly disappeared. The cousin realised that something was wrong when the young woman could not explain the disappearance and he then alerted the police.

Maano allegedly made a confession to the police when being questioned. She also showed the police the pit toilet into which she had thrown her daughter. The police subsequently had the toilet dug up and retrieved the skeleton of a badly decomposed child´s body.

Provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mohale Ramatseba confirmed the incident. According to him, it is alleged that Ms Maano had a quarrel with her partner at the Bridelia farm in Levubu on February 25. "The suspect then vented her anger on a child, whom she allegedly strangled before throwing her into a pit toilet," he said. He added that the child´s remains were discovered by the police at the Bridelia farm last Wednesday. According to Ramatseba, a case of murder has been opened against the suspect.

Maano is a resident of Bodwe village in the Mashau area. She worked at the nearby Cronjé farm as a farm labourer. She briefly appeared in the Louis Trichardt Magistrate´s Court last Friday and the case was postponed to June 17.

When appearing in court last week, the suspect told Mirror that her abusive husband had caused her to kill their lovely daughter, Murendeni. Maano showed the bruises on her chin and alleged that these were the result of beatings.

The magistrate told Maano that she was entitled to a lawyer and if she did not have money, a legal aid lawyer could be made available to represent her for free. It was also stated in court that Maano had no previous offenses.

According to the police, the remains of the child were taken to Tshilidzini Hospital for further forensic investigations.