EC man charged with beating two-year-old to death
The two-year-old child who died in Livingstone Hospital last week was allegedly beaten to death.
The postmortem, which was conducted on Monday, revealed that Juliano Gallant died from blunt force trauma to the body and head.
Juliano died in hospital after allegedly been abducted by his mother’s ex-boyfriend, who is believed to have subsequently taken the child to Livingstone Hospital.
The mother's 25-year-old ex-boyfriend, who is accused of killing the minor, appeared in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate's Court on Monday.
Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said the man was charged with Juliano’s murder and the alleged rape of his mother.
Due to the nature of the charges, the man can only be named after he pleads to the rape charge in court.
“The state will be opposing bail due to the seriousness of the offences,” Janse van Rensburg said.
“The detective is still investigating the matter and the motive for the killing remains unknown.”
She said the marks on Juliano’s body suggest he was assaulted, resulting in his death.
“The coroners report states the cause of death being blunt force trauma due to injuries on the body and head,” she said.
“It remains unknown at this stage if a weapon was used to assault him.”
The man was arrested after a three-day police investigation. Juliano was allegedly abducted from his grandmother's house in Helenvale.
Juliano’s grandmother said the ex-boyfriend stormed into the house on Monday night and allegedly ran off with the child.
By Tuesday, Juliano had been taken to the hospital.
Juliano's mother said that she was unaware of the abduction as she had allegedly gone into hiding amid fears for her safety from her ex-boyfriend.
The man was arrested on Thursday, while allegedly walking with Juliano’s mother to the hospital.
He is due to appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate's Court on Tuesday for the charge of murder and September 19 for the alleged rape.