Child, 2, found dead in ceiling, dad arrested by North West police

While her mother was in hospital for treatment, a toddler vanished.

After being discharged a day later, on Friday last week, she started a search for her two-year-old daughter, said North West police spokesperson Lt-Col Amanda Funani.

Police discovered the child’s father had been seen with her. The 47-year-old man had visited his girlfriend’s home in Extension 20, Jouberton, and took their daughter without her mother’s consent.

On Sunday he was arrested at his home in Alabama, near Klerksdorp, and charged for kidnapping after he failed to tell the police where the child could be found.

On Monday, neighbours, who smelled a bad odour coming from the suspect’s house, went to investigate. They found the body of the child in a ceiling and the police were called.

The father, who was already in custody, was charged with her murder. He is expected to appear in the Klerksdorp magistrate’s court on Wednesday.

Acting North West police commissioner Maj-Gen Dintletse Molefe thanked the neighbours and community members for working in cooperation with the police. She asked the detectives to do everything in their power to oppose bail.

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