DAILY SUN FRONT PAGE
Daily Sun (October 18 2013) - MARTIN TSOKU is a man recovering from shock. He was devastated when he heard about the death of his two little kids - and that his wife had accused him of killing them! BUT YESTERDAY HE TOLD DAILY SUN: "THE TRUTH HAS COME OUT!"
Martin (29) spoke while sitting at Katlehong Police Station, east of Joburg, waiting to be told by cops he was no longer a suspect in the poisoning of his two little girls. They were found dead on Tuesday in a broken-down house near Katlehong.
The girls, aged three and 17 months, are suspected to have drunk juice laced with poison. Meanwhile police have arrested Martin's 22-year-old wife, the children's mother, and say they will charge her with murder. The woman is in a critical but stable condition at Natalspruit Hospital, suffering from poisoning.
Said Martin: "I couldn't believe that my wife had lied and pointed a finger at me. Now I'm happy she seems to have come to her senses."
The father continued: "The pain of losing my two children is killing me. This is a loss I will never forget. I feel helpless and grieving."
Martin, who lives in Witbank, Mpumalanga, told Daily Sun he visited his wife's home in Zonkezizwe, Ekurhuleni on Monday.
"Ever since we had our differences, I would visit her and the kids every two weeks. I hadn't dumped her but just wanted to give her time to deal with her anger issues. We always fought when we were together, but I was patient with her because I loved her," said Martin. "On Monday I bought them food and few clothes for all three of them.
"That day she even accompanied me to the local taxi rank and she never showed any anger."
When he got home to Witbank he was shocked to get a call from the cops saying he was wanted for the killing of his children and the attempted murder of his wife.
"I knew I didn't do it. I got confused, and I could see it on television. After speaking to my family I decided to hand myself over to the cops." The two families went with cops to see the woman at hospital.
The woman had told cops that her husband had left them in an abandoned house with juice and when she woke up, the children were dead. Zonkezizwe cops opened an inquest docket immediately, but on Wednesday, acting provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Lesetja Mothiba told reporters that there were "discrepancies in the mother's version of the events".
) The woman was discharged from hospital yesterday, police said. "She will be charged with double murder when she appears in the Heidelberg Magistrates Court today," Lt-Col Lungelo Dlamini said.
See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....
The Daily Sun is South Africa's largest daily newspaper with an average circulation of 287 222 (Audit Bureau of Circulations 2nd Quarter 2013) and a readership of 5.7m (as per AMPS 2012ab). Its Facebook page can be accessed here. It can be followed on Twitter here. To find about advertising on the Daily Sun click here.
Issued through the Politicsweb iService
