Father Allegedly Punches 10-Month-Old Baby In Front Of Mother; Child Found Dead Next Morning

A 10-month-old baby in South Africa died after being allegedly assaulted by his father because he would not stop crying.

The incident took place Tuesday in Bethelsdorp, a town in the Eastern Cape Province. The police said Wednesday the baby and his mother had visited the father's home in Langdon Street, during which the child was reportedly crying continuously. This irritated the father, who, in a fit of rage, hit the baby's face with his fists.

“The mother of the child and the baby went to the father's house. While at the house, it is further alleged that the child cried continuously and irritated the father until he could no longer tolerate it. The mother explained that the child may have had cramps, the father then started to assault the child,” police officer Priscila Naidu said, according to Eyewitness News.

The mother also told the police the accused chased her out of the house after he assaulted the baby. He kept the child with him overnight until she went back to the house to get the baby. When she reached the house she found the child dead on the bed.

The mother immediately took the baby's body home and alerted the police about the incident.

"At about 10:00, this morning [Wednesday], SAPS Bethelsdorp detectives arrested the father at his house. He is detained on a charge of murder," Naidu said, according to News 24.

The accused, who has not been identified, is due to appear in the Gqeberha Magistrate's Court on Sept. 27. The child's exact cause of death has not been revealed so far.

In June, a mother in Egypt was arrested after she allegedly killed her baby by striking the infant's head repeatedly with a remote control. The 26-year-old woman reportedly assaulted the baby because she could not get him to stop crying. Authorities said at the time the child died on the spot as a result of blunt force trauma. When the mother realized the baby was dead, she fled the scene. The body of the baby was found by his 44-year-old father who returned home from work and saw the infant lying in a pool of blood in the living room.