The woman who was arrested for murder and attempted murder of her boyfriend’s two children has revealed shocking details of how she intended to kill six children and then commit suicide after she was summoned by the police.
Mavis Philile Gama (28) of Ngcina was arrested about a week ago after she was alleged to have killed a six-year-old boy and attempting to kill his nine-year-old brother.
Both children are fathered by her boyfriend Bonginkosi Khumalo of KaMkhweli.
Gama made her first remand appearance before Principal Magistrate Musa Nxumalo last Tuesday as she faced a charge of murder and another of attempted murder.
She is alleged to have stabbed the six-year-old child several times in the neck and body and proceeded to hack his older brother with a bushknife once in the head.
The older child managed to slip away and raised the alarm. This happened while the father of the children had gone to a local police post, leaving the children alone at his parental home.
The accused was apprehended by members of the community who responded promptly to the screams of the runaway boy with blood oozing from his head.
Gama returned to court on Monday after electing to record her confession before a judicial officer in the magistrate’s chambers.
In her confession, the accused stated that she had a seven-month-old baby with the father of the deceased child. She also has three other children from a different father. Gama stated that her relationship with Khumalo had been unstable as they frequently fought over the maintenance of their baby.
She stated that about four days before the incident, she went to Khumalo’s parental home and ‘dumped’ their baby after he failed to give her money to buy disposable nappies.
She said, however, she eventually returned and collected the child later on the same day after she spoke to the child’s grandmother.
Four days later, Gama said she received a phone call from the police, summoning her to the police station regarding allegations of abandoning a minor.
Gama said the call left her frustrated and angry. She said she assumed that her boyfriend had laid charges against her and feared being arrested.
It was then that she took a kitchen knife from her home and headed to her boyfriend’s home. She stated that her initial plan was to attack him for reporting her to the police while failing to provide for their child. However, she did not find him at home.
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She found the two boys doing their own washing.
Gama said she first took the younger boy into a separate house, locked the door and ordered him to lie on the ground before attacking him. She then went outside and pursued the older child, who managed to escape after being injured and raised alarm.
The accused said she then left the homestead and headed back to her parental home, where she intended to harm her four children before taking her own life.
Her plan was intercepted by members of the public who caught her along the way after the injured boy reported the incident.
She stated that she was in a state of confusion, fearing arrest and struggling to provide for her children. She said her family depended on her father, who is employed in the sugar industry.
Prior to being summoned by the police, the accused said the father of the deceased had given her only E50 to buy disposable nappies for their baby.
The accused is currently detained at the women’s correctional facility pending committal to the High Court.
The court ordered that her remand appearances be held at Big Bend Correctional Facility.
