THE spate of violence against women and children continues unabated, as a stepfather allegedly killed an infant on Saturday after having assaulted the mother a few days ago.

Ellerese Christiaan, aged a year and 10 months, was allegedly killed by her 27-year-old stepfather after her mother ran away to escape attacks by the man she has been living with.

The trail of violence started on Wednesday when the murder suspect allegedly teargassed his girlfriend, Walburga Christiaan, before stabbing her with a knife.

Relating the ordeal to the media on Sunday, Walburga said she laid a charge of assault against her boyfriend on Wednesday, only to see him released the same day.

When she inquired about the case on Thursday at the Wanaheda police station, she was allegedly informed that the man was released because a wrong case number was entered on his docket.

He then apparently went to her workplace and threatened to kill her. When she ran away on Friday to spend the night with friends the accused allegedly kidnapped her daughter.

When the mother realised that her daughter had been abducted she phoned an acquaintance to tell her boyfriend to return the baby but the boyfriend allegedly ran away from the home in the Havana informal settlement that he shared with her.

The friend then went inside and made the gruesome discovery.

City police spokesperson Helena Mootseng told The Namibian that it is suspected at this stage that the toddler was suffocated as there are no visible marks on the body. Mootseng said a post mortem would confirm the cause of death.

The suspect, who is on the run from the police, left a suicide note behind.

He claimed in the note that while the police told him to stay away from his girlfriend, she is the one who was refusing to end the love affair. He further claimed to have been beaten by his girlfriend in the past and also admitted that he stabbed her on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Mootseng called on local communities and churches to get more involved in the fight against crime.

She said that the law enforcement agencies cannot fight crime alone and need the involvement of society.