A four-year-old girl from Selosesha in Thaba Nchu, 63km east of Bloemfontein in the Free State has been found dead after she was reported missing on Tuesday.
The child’s lifeless body was found on Wednesday behind an outside toilet at her parent’s residence.
The child’s family is awaiting postmortem results to determine the cause of her demise, as she was found with no visible injuries on her body.
According to police, before the girl went missing, she allegedly had requested to go out to use the toilet.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Mahlomola Kareli said an inquest docket has been opened for further investigation.
“On Tuesday afternoon, the mother of the victim, a 25-year-old woman reported her four-year-old girl child missing at Selosesha after she could not find her,” Kareli said.
“It is alleged that the little girl requested to go to the toilet outside from her mother and she agreed.”
When she failed to come back, the mother panicked and started a search for the child. However, she could not locate the child.
The Selosesha police officers later joined the search for the child, which had been started by members of the community.
“On Wednesday, a neighbour allegedly made a gruesome discovery, finding the child behind her parent’s toilet,” said Kareli.
“Emergency personnel and police were called to the scene and she was declared dead.”
In August, Police Minister Bheki Cele released crime statistics that showed that about 40 women and 50 children were killed between April and June.
Cele said at the time that police officers have a huge responsibility to tackle violence against women and children.
The crime statistics were for the first quarter of the year.
“Most deaths relating to children are a result of the domestic set-up,” Cele said.
“If one day we achieve the complete non-murder of any child in the Republic of South Africa, that will be a good day, we are working towards that.”
