Johannesburg – A Diepsloot couple accused of murdering and neglecting the woman’s seven-month-old baby appeared briefly in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

The case against Nokuthula Gumede, 23, and her boyfriend Fernando Sidanvo, 35, was postponed until November 20. They would remain in custody, said Captain Tsekiso Mofokeng.

The baby was found dead and mutilated in a shack in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, on Sunday morning. Police spokesman Captain Tsekiso Mofokeng said on Monday that rats bit off the baby’s foot while it was left alone in a shack.

Gumede was arrested in a Randburg tavern on Tuesday night. Sidanvo was arrested in Diepsloot on Wednesday.

Sapa