BOY (12) KILLS 5-YEAR-OLD WITH HAMMER

MDONJANE – In one of the most shocking incidents to be recorded in recent history in the country, a 12-year-old boy purportedly bludgeoned his five-year-old neighbour to death.

The boy assaulted the victim with a hammer on the head several times. When the five-year-old boy was rushed to hospital after the incident, his face had been severely disfigured. The incident has left the community of Mdonjane perplexed and devastated. It is said *Ncaba became enraged after the younger boy, Junior Shabangu (5), insulted him. In fury, the 12-year-old reportedly struck Junior on the head with the hammer three times.

Blood

The younger boy’s lifeless body, whose face was disfigured and drenched in blood, was discovered by Ncaba’s father in a hut, with severe injuries. The community is in shock and struggling to make sense of the ordeal. The two boys are neighbours and their homesteads are about 10 metres apart from each other. In a quest to ascertain the details of the incident, this publication paid a visit to Mdonjane, which led it to Ncaba’s homestead located in a rural area, on the outskirts of Luyengo. The homestead does not have access to modern conveniences like electricity and running water. The household relies on firewood for cooking meals and has a dog, several chickens and cattle. Subsistence farming is the main method of earning a livelihood at this household, as there were fields which were littered with maize and other crops. There were three small stick-and-mud houses, which were without electricity.

Ncaba’s father, aged 73, was found preparing to leave his homestead. He was requested by this publication to narrate the events leading to the horrific incident. “I arrived from the fields on Monday morning, when I was drawn by strange moaning coming from one of the huts. I was outside one of the huts and assumed that it was the dog, which usually stays inside. The sound persisted, and I ended up going inside to check, only to find Junior lying on the floor with his face swollen and bleeding profusely,” he shared. The father mentioned that next to the boy’s body was a hammer. In disbelief, he told this publication that he called his son’s name but there was no response. According Ncaba’s father, he knew from the get go, that his son was supposedly behind this atrocious act.

Mother

He disclosed that he immediately called the deceased boy’s mother, and informed her about his discovery. Within a few minutes, the elderly man recalled that the boy’s mother arrived and witnessed her son, struggling to breathe. Instantly, he suspected that the boy died on the spot.  “His mother took the body out of the hut, while we tried calling the police. However, he was presumed dead when they arrived,” he narrated. According to Ncaba’s father, the police recorded statements from both him and Junior’s mother. He revealed that they then conducted  their investigations which led them to where Ncaba was, at a particular homestead in Matsapha. He was asked how the young boy could have reached there. The father mentioned that his son always had a way to get to faraway places. He said the boy would oftentimes walk long distances to get to his intended destinations. “The police got hold of him and took him to the police station for questioning. This is when he revealed that he was insulted by the younger boy. Ncaba said he dragged the little boy into one of the houses, where he then assaulted him three times on the head,” the father alleged.

He highlighted that what baffled him was that his son did not show any remorse for what he had done. Chief Police Information and Communication Officer Senior Superintended Phindile Vilakati confirmed that on Monday at 10am, a five-year-old boy of Mdonjane died after being smashed with a brick hammer several times on the head by a 13-year-old boy while at home. Vilakati said the investigation was ongoing. This month, this publication reported about a 12-year-old boy who shot to death a seven-year-old at their homestead at Luve.

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