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Boy found dead in ‘pool of garbage’

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The boy’s tiny body was found floating face down in the water, surrounded by garbage, by a passer-by.

The body of a missing four-year-old boy was found in this pool of stagnant water. Picture: Soraya Crowie

THE BODY of a missing four-year-old boy was found in a pool of stagnant water at the abandoned mushroom farm in Lerato Park on Thursday morning.

The boy’s tiny body was found floating face down in the water, surrounded by garbage, by a passer-by.

The boy apparently went missing on Wednesday after leaving his home with his father.

His father was on his daily routine of collecting and cleaning used bricks from the abandoned building to earn an income.

It is suspected that the boy must have slipped into the water without his father noticing.

The Roodepan police have opened an inquest docket into the death of the boy.

Police spokesperson Captain Lebogang Tawana said the boy’s body was found floating in a trench filled with water near a dilapidated building just outside of Lerato Park.

The father has been accused of forgetting about his child when he left for home.

It is also alleged that the boy’s parents were involved in a fight, resulting in his mother ending up in hospital.

The child was in the care of his father after his mother was rushed to hospital by ambulance due to injuries suffered during the alleged fight.

His mother is the one who started looking for him after returning from hospital, but could not find him.

They were alerted by a passer-by who arrived at their shack to inform them that their child’s body was in the water.

Several community members called for the law to take its course and accused the father of child negligence.

“It is so sad that such a young life is lost due to the carelessness of the parents. The disturbing part is that the father did not even help the ailing mother to look for the child. She was knocking on doors all alone,” one community member said.

The community also made a plea to the Sol Plaatje Municipality to attend to the water trenches and leaking water pipes in Lerato Park.

“The children continuously play in the trenches, which we do not even know the depth of. Some of these trenches grow deeper and deeper due to the water pressure underneath,” one resident said.

Residents added that sometimes the water is mixed with sewage, causing a terrible stench.

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