A North West father is expected to appear in the Stillfontein Magistrate's Court on Monday on a charge of murder after he allegedly poisoned his two-year-old son. The toddler died in hospital.
Provincial police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Funani, said the 30-year-old man separated from his children's mother.
"According to information at our disposal, the father went to his girlfriend’s home in Kanana near Klerksdorp and demanded to be given his three children, aged eight, four and two," she said.
The next day the woman said the children could visit their father, provided that her brother go with them.
Funani said when the brother and children arrived at their father's house, the father instructed the uncle to brother to leave.
"The uncle left with the four-year-old. He left the two boys behind," police said.
Later that day, the father allegedly called the children's mother and told her she was going to do something.
"The mother then called the children's grandmother who informed her that they were on the way to hospital after the suspect allegedly poisoned himself and the two children," Funani said.
The two-year-old got ill and it was discovered that the older child did not swallow the poison.
"The youngest child died in hospital and the father was arrested once he was released from hospital," Funani said.
Provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, condemned the incident.
"The children died at the hands of their father, someone who was supposed to protect them.
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