Son's axe attack on father a shocker - police

Bloemfontein - A 19-year-old man from the Free State Goldfields will appear in the Welkom Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for allegedly hacking his father's head with an axe during a domestic squabble.

The young man allegedly had an argument with his father at the Moeletsi Hostel in Thabong on Wednesday morning last week, police spokesperson Sergeant Mamello Mokhuoane said.

“The father and son’s argument turned into a fight and the father allegedly strangled his son, who then took an axe and hacked his father several times on the head and fled the scene on foot,” Mokhuoane told News24.

“We have seen a lot of things, but this isn’t usual. This is a shocker,” she said.

Emergency services and the Thabong police were summoned to the scene and the father was later transferred to a hospital in Bloemfontein.

The son was arrested and a case of attempted murder was registered at Thabong SAPS for further investigation.