Mom poisons husband, children then commits suicide

A NORTH West woman is believed to have poisoned herself, her husband and their six children after a domestic dispute.

Community Policing Forum members alerted police to the incident. By the time paramedics arrived at the family home in Vaalbank, outside Coligny, the mother and four children – the youngest just 2 months old – were dead. The father and two children were rushed to hospital for treatment.

Police are investigating four counts of murder and inquest dockets. Colonel Adele Myburgh said the woman, 38, and her husband apparently had an argument on Saturday night. The couple and their six boys later went to bed. However, Myburgh said, it is claimed the mother woke up during the night and spread poison throughout the house and also drank it. “As a result, the mother and her four sons died. The 35-year-old father and two sons, aged 8 and 17, were admitted to hospital for medical treatment.”

Myburgh said the poison believed to have been used is a pesticide that cannot be bought over the counter.

It is believed that the woman drank the poison but also spread it in the house and the entire family inhaled its toxic gas.