Johannesburg- Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has strongly condemned the murders of a 14-year-old girl at Mookgopong and a 29-year woman at Mapayeni village outside Giyani, as well as subsequent mob killings of two men allegedly suspected of being responsible for the two murders.
Last Thursday the body of a 14-year-old girl, identified as Palesa Mosoloke, was found inside a shack at Extension 8 informal settlement.
The body did not have any visible injuries and it is suspected that the victim might have been strangled.
Police are also investigating the possibility that the child might have been raped.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the shack was rented by a foreign national only known as Mhlongo who has since disappeared.
The police were still busy with investigations when they received information about the Swaziland national who was found assaulted, stoned and body set alight on Saturday 25 September.
The victim later succumbed to the injuries on arrival at the hospital.
Preliminary investigations indicated that the deceased was suspected by community members of being involved in the rape and murder of the 14-year-old girl.
In another incident on Friday, the body of a 29-year-old woman was found by community members lying on the street at Mapayeni village.
The Police, who were on patrol duties were called and attended to the scene.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the deceased, identified as Tiyiselani Precious Rikhotso was hacked and stabbed to death by an unknown suspect while walking to the nearby store.
The suspect then fled the scene.
The next day, community members from the same village reportedly suspected a certain man, hunted him down, and found him in a house where they killed him.
“The killings of a 14-year-old girl at Mookgopong and a woman in Giyani are extremely deplorable as the country is engaged in the rigorous fight against gender-based violence. The brutal killings of the two men apparently suspected of being responsible for the two murders are equally condemned as these incidents are tantamount to vigilantism,” said Lieutenant General Hadebe.
“Community members must desist from taking the law into their own hands and must instead work with the police by providing information that can assist in apprehending the suspects.” Concluded Lieutenant General Hadebe.
Police investigations are still continuing.
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