A two-year-old boy died from head injuries after his brother hit him with a garden hoe in Endicott, Springs, police said yesterday.

A two-year-old boy died from head injuries after his brother hit him with a garden hoe in Endicott, Springs, police said yesterday.

The boy's mother had left him playing with his eight-year-old brother when the incident happened on Christmas Eve, said Superintendent Andy Pieke.

"The 30-year-old mother said she found her toddler badly injured, allegedly by the brother, when she returned," he said.

"The boy was then taken to a hospital by ambulance. He was released immediately after his head had been stitched up." Pieke said the boy's condition worsened a day after the incident.

"He had to be admitted to hospital again but he died four days later." A murder case is being investigated, but police will hand over the matter to the director of public prosecutions for a decision on whether or not to prosecute. - Sapa