Yesterday (11 June) marked one year since Roodepoort was shocked by the news of the horrific murder of six-month-old baby boy Deon Rothman (Pelser).

His father, Marthinus Pelser, 22, is facing a murder charge and is currently awaiting trial, which will commence on 11 September. This comes after the case was repeatedly postponed due to the defence allegedly having trouble to obtain transcripts of the bail hearing. At this stage indications are that the defence will call only Pelser to the stand whereas the state will call 10 witnesses, among them experts.

During the bail hearing horrific details of the murder surfaced. Supporters were shocked when parts of the postmortem report were read. According to the report the cause of death was multiple blunt-force injuries. It also stated that there was no skin left on the baby’s face, that he had multiple fractures and rib injuries. When the report was read, Pelser displayed no emotion.

Thus far Pelser had only a handful of family supporting him in court.

Also Read: Baby Deon activist takes it to the next level

After Deon’s death Ronel Hayes, who has become an activist against woman and child abuse, created the Facebook page Justice for Baby Deon. The page currently has more than 5 000 followers. She is also one of the founders of The Deon Rothman Foundation.

The trial is scheduled to take place from 11 September to 14 September, as well as on 21 September.

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