South Africa: Baby Girl 'Murdered for Muti' Found Beheaded With Face Taken

The headless body of a one-year-old baby girl has been found in bushes near an outhouse in Britstown, South Africa.

The decapitation of Jeynielien Davidene Boks - whose naked body surrounded by dogs was found on Thursday - is believed to be a case of muti murder, related to black magic medicines.

Local police spokeswoman, Colonel Priscilla Naidu, said police were investigating a case of murder after the body of the girl was found.

She added that no arrest had been made yet, and appealed to the community to assist in the investigation, South Africa's Independent Online reports.

Jeynielien's mother, Anna Boks, said she last saw her daughter, just before sunset on Wednesday.

"It was a cold evening and I fell asleep on the bed with her next to me. Later, I woke up and realised that she was not there. I started asking around to find out where she was, but couldn't find her," Boks said.

"The next morning I saw a crowd gathering next to the outside toilet and I went there to see what that was all about. I arrived there only to find the body of my child lying in the bushes. I recognised her by the bottom part of her body," Boks continued.

"She was naked and her head had been chopped off. I was extremely shocked and couldn't bring myself to look more at her body. I immediately went to report the incident to the police."

David April, the child's father, said small fragments of her skull were found nearby. He said the front of her head, including her face, had been taken.

The Britstown community has been shocked by the ferocious murder.

"This incident has sent shockwaves through our community," one angry resident said. "This is the first incident of its kind to ever happen in our normally peaceful community. The brutal killing of the young child has left us shocked and deeply disturbed".

Another resident added: "Some of us are even willing to kill this perpetrator if he is found".

Naidu said a post-mortem would be conducted to determine the exact cause of death.