Woman accused of killing and kidnapping to undergo psychiatric evaluation

A woman who allegedly sold her newborn child to "unknown people", then murdered a woman and stole her infant son, is set to undergo psychiatric evaluation in Gauteng.

It is said that on Monday the Gauteng High Court requested that Nelisiwe Thwala be referred to Sterkfontein Psychiatric Hospital on 24 April.

The suspect was arrested last year after three years on the run.

According to reports, the charges stated that she and her boyfriend, and alleged co-perpetrator Xolani Mkhize, lived in an outside room in Zola North, Soweto.

Lukhozi was killed at her home in June 2019, allegedly by Thwala and Mkhize. The two have been accused of taking the child after putting Lukhozi's body in a wheelie bin and dumping her body in a nearby field.

It is understood that Thwala and Mkhize proceeded to the accused’s parental home at Tshepisong with the deceased’s minor child... and introduced the deceased’s child as the accused’s child [who] had been previously sold by the accused to unknown persons."

Thwala is facing numerous charges including murder, kidnapping, and human trafficking, among others, while Mkhize was convicted and received two life sentences.

Thwala’s trial was postponed to 20 April.

 

Done by: Alungile Njemla