Remember the 39-year old man from South Africa who reportedly killed his three children after giving them energy drinks laced with rat poison?

Reports from down south indicate that he has died.

Speaking to TimesLIVE, Colonel Brenda Muridili said the man from Ratanda near Heidelberg in Gauteng died on Friday last week.

The now deceased hogged the media limelight for all the wrong reasons after he allegedly gave four of his five children energy drinks to take to school on 26 May, 2022. According to the reports, the energy drinks were laced with rat poison.

His children started complaining of stomach pains after consuming the drinks.

Two of the children died at school, the third one died on the way to the hospital, while the fourth was admitted to hospital in a serious condition, iHarare reported.

It is also reported that the fifth sibling had refused to take the poisoned drink.

The deceased brothers were aged 6, 13 and 16. As if that was not enough, the man also gave the poisonous substance to the family dog, which was found dead.

The man had been hospitalised since May when he was found unconscious at his home, allegedly after he had tried to commit suicide hours after poisoning his children. He was under police guard in hospital, awaiting murder and attempted murder charges.

As iHarare reported, his family said he tried to take his life multiple times by drinking pills, stabbing his hands and thighs and attempting to slit his throat.

The family told the media that after the incident the man told a relative that ‘he had no idea what had come over him’.

Zwnews