RELATIVES hid a two-year-old baby girl in the toilet as her crazed police constable father killed her mother and a friend - then searched for the toddler in vain - before committing suicide.

Police constable Obed Ramorola shot dead his girlfriend Bontle Gaboutlwelwe and her friend Motlalepula Mathikga, and after unsuccessfully searching for the toddler, he put the gun in his mouth and killed himself.

The incident took place in Ikopeleng village in Mahikeng, North West, on Sunday.

Gaboutlwelwe's aunt Tshegofatso Tshukudu said yesterday: "We are certain he wanted to kill her too. He was looking for her all over but the baby was hidden in the toilet. When he did not find her, he killed himself."

Tshukudu said had it not been for Ramorola's mother, Atlegang, could have also died.

"Her grandmother had to hide her inside the toilet to protect her from (her father) Obed. We don't know what went through his head."

Tshukudu said Gaboutlwelwe left on Saturday morning to attend a wedding in Ikopeleng.

"The next thing we received a call that she was dead ..." she said.

Tshukudu said she knew Obed as a very quite but obsessive boy.

"He seemed like a nice boy, but we could also pick up that he was obsessive. We warned Bontle on several occasions to be careful with Obed. She liked partying a lot. We told her not to go to parties if Obed was not part of it."

According to Brigadier Thulani Ngubane, Gaboutlwelwe was shot on her left shoulder and the bullet went through her left cheek.

Her childhood friend, Mathikga, was shot six times from behind. Ngubane said five bullets went through Mathikga's back and one through her left thigh.

Ngubane said Ramorola broke the bedroom window and shot the two friends. He then went back to his parents' home to tell them that he had just killed two people.

"On his way back to the scene, he met his sister and brother-in-law who accompanied him to the scene where he shot himself on arrival."

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa's spokesman, Zweli Mnisi, said there are programmes to help stressed out officers.

"As a ministry, we have internal programmes to assist members who might be going through difficult and stressful times, and urge our members to utilise them."

A police psychologist said: "Suicide scenarios are often seen in intimate partner situations and family murders. In intimate partner situations, it is often the ex-lover that cannot cope with the end of the relationship. Often, there is a history of jealousy and controlling behaviour in that relationship.

"In cases of family murders, it is often a father with rigid views on the world, who feels that the world is changing and feels there is no point of continuing. There is not much anyone can do to spot them, but if anyone threatens to kill themselves and/or another person, it should be taken seriously."

- Additional reporting by Mogomotsi Selebi and Tebogo Monama