Following the discovery of her daughter’s body in a shallow grave, a South African mother has been charged with selling her two-year-old daughter to a “witch doctor.”
Alongside’shaman’ Sebokoana Khounyana, the victim’s mother Kuneuwe Shalaba appeared in court on Monday, June 2, on charges of brutally murdering her toddler, whom she allegedly sold for £3,100.
In February of last year, the six-year-old youngster disappeared from outside her home in Saldanha Bay, which is close to Cape Town.
Information from the most recent instance has raised concerns that up to one-third of the more than 1000 children killed in South Africa each year might be targeted for body parts.
When 33-year-old Kuneuwe Shalaba reported her child missing, a massive search was initiated.
A mother is said to have sold her daughter, age 2, to
Shalaba initially asserted that Kutlwano was a guy, but she subsequently acknowledged that she was a girl.
She claimed that three kidnappers stole the toddler from her and fled in a VW Golf close to Johannesburg.
Before investigators realized that a significant sum of money had been transferred into Shalaba’s bank account just two hours prior to receiving the report, police had been looking for the youngster for six months.
Mother of five When police met Shalaba, who was having difficulty making ends meet and providing for her children, she was unable to explain how a mystery guy had given her a year’s worth of money.
She then admitted to the magistrates that she had made up the kidnapping narrative and had actually misled the police into thinking they were looking for her “son” when the missing child was actually a female.
The mother reported her kidnapping on November 13, and the prosecution believes Kutlwano, who was dressed as a male and presented to family and acquaintances as a boy, was slain on November 10.
Her daughter’s body was discovered in a shallow grave in the neighboring town of Randfontein on May 29, and she was arrested on November 19 at her home in Boipatong, 40 miles south of Johannesburg.
Mother Shalaba is also charged with giving a false statement to the police and conspiring to commit robbery.
On June 5, Shalaba and Khounyana, the two alleged murderers, will appear before the same magistrate.