The mother apparently hanged her two children before killing herself.
Durban – KZN police said they were investigating a double murder and an inquest after a mother allegedly hanged her two children before killing herself in Verulam on Tuesday afternoon.
It is alleged that the woman gave her two older children pills to drink before sending them to the shop, according to Colonel Thembeka Mbele.
“When the kids returned they found their mother hanged with other two siblings,” said Mbele.
According to Reaction Unit South Africa boss Prem Balram when officers arrived on scene they found the mother and her two toddler sons aged 2 and 3 hanging from the rafters of their two bedroom home in Mhlasini in Verulam.
“It is alleged that the two older children, aged 10 and 12 were given poison and sent to a nearby tuckshop. Their bodies were found hanging above the bed when the children returned from the shop.”
Balram claimed that the woman had had sent several texts to her friends and family informing them about her intentions to take her own life.
In November a Pinetown father who hanged his three children and stepdaughter was given four life sentences.
Sibusiso Mpungose, 44, 44, pleaded guilty in October to hanging his children aged 4, 6, and 10 at their family home in Wyebank on September 3.
In his guilty plea, he said he had been experiencing problems with his wife and she wanted a divorce. He said this left him devastated and he decided to kill himself and his children.
His 16-year-old step daughter was strangled with a bathrobe belt and found in the bush in Padfield Park, Pinetown.
Shortly after his arrest Mpungose was also charged with rape but the rape charge was withdrawn.
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