A man has been arrested for stabbing his ex-partner to death in front of their three-year-old child.

Angelique Fourie, 27, was killed in her house in the town of Trichardt in the South African province of Mpumalanga on the evening of 7th November, and her childhood sweetheart is the main suspect.

Her ex-boyfriend, who was in a relationship with the victim since high school until they split a year ago, has since turned himself in at the police station.

Police spokesperson Valencia Koma said they received a report of a disturbance at the Terra Nova complex and officers arrived at around 11pm.

Cops found that the property was locked and smoke was seen coming from an open window.

A neighbour told officers that she was having a coffee with the victim in her home when the suspect arrived and began to argue with the women.

The neighbour fled the house and went to report the incident.

After allegedly killing Koma, the suspect tried to set the property ablaze by putting a bin on the stove, according to the media outlet News24.

Koma said: “Police forced opened the door together with the firefighters, and inside the house, they found burning dustbin in the kitchen, there was blood on the floor.

“They checked around the house, and they found a woman lying in the pool of blood in the bathroom. She had a wound on the neck.”

According to The South African, she was stabbed in the neck and sustained other injuries to her face.

Paramedics arrived on the scene, however they could only confirm the young woman’s death.

The suspect, named as Christopher Watson, 33, took his daughter, who reportedly witnessed the murder, to his sister’s house and quickly left without telling her where he was headed.

He turned himself over to the authorities on Tuesday morning (9th November) and has since been charged with murder.

The investigation is ongoing.