A mother and her boyfriend who stand accused of beating a three-year-old and burning him with boiling water will hear in December whether they will be convicted for the child’s death.

The man is not the child's father.

The pair appeared in the South Gauteng High Court on Monday facing charges of murder and child abuse. The child died in June 2016 after allegedly being beaten and put in a bath of boiling hot water.

The case was postponed to December 18 for judgment and for the lawyer representing the mother of the child to file his heads of argument.

According to the indictment‚ which was seen by TimesLIVE‚ the mother of the child and her boyfriend assaulted the three-year-old with a blunt object and then burnt him with hot water.

“The deceased‚ during the early hours of the 25th of June‚ was found in his bed having already passed away. The deceased died of blunt force injuries of the head and chest with 60% body surface area partial to full thickness burns‚” the indictment reads.

“We are completely outraged by the further delay. This child was murdered in 2016‚ the last court appearance was in July… This delay in justice‚ we believe‚ must be investigated by the Law Society‚” said Luke Lamprecht‚ for Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA).

He said the conduct of the mother’s lawyer‚ who has not submitted his heads of argument‚ should be investigated by the Law Society.

“We believe we could have had a conviction today. We have come out in support of this baby [who is] without a voice. We have taken the whole team to come to court. There is no regard for civil society trying to give this baby a voice… this child is faceless and nameless. They are protecting the accused - it’s inexcusable.

“It doesn’t appear that anybody has given any thought to this child. It’s all about the accused‚” Lamprecht said.