Engeline de Nysschen and Hanelie Botha, a lesbian couple, have been found guilty of the murder of Botha’s son, reports 365Gay.com’s South Africa Bureau.

Their trial was told that Engeline de Nysschen beat the boy until he fell into a coma. Her partner, Hanelie Botha, the boy’s birth mother, stood by and did nothing to stop the assault.

The court heard testimony from a woman and daughter who worked for the couple witnessed the attack, describing in detail how Nysschen demanded the toddler call her daddy and when he did not began battering him.

An autopsy showed that Jandre Botha sustained a fractured skull, brain damage, broken legs, collarbone, hands and pelvis.

When they were arrested the women told police that the boy had slipped in the bath.

A trauma expert told the court that the boy’s injuries were similar to those of a person who had fallen from a two-storey building.

In handing down a guilty verdict Magistrate Rita Willemse said that while there was no evidence linking Hanelie to the killing she was equally guilty of murder for failing to protect her child against the abuse.

Both women will be sentenced in June.