Johannesburg - Police are appealing to the public to assist them with information following the discovery of a woman’s body in the Boksburg Lake last week.
On Tuesday, spokesman Lieutenant Kwendzakwakhe Ngobese said the naked body was pulled out of the lake on January 24 near the Boksburg municipal library.
A murder docket has been opened.
“Preliminary post-mortem results show that the woman may have been strangled and then hit on the head with a hard object. Her body was then dumped in the water,” a source close to the investigation said.
Initially, the police believed there was “no foul play” involved as she had no visible wounds on her body when she was found.
“It is unclear how long the body was in the water or what actually happened. Investigations are ongoing,” Ngobese said.
Police said the woman had still not been identified. “We are appealing to the public to help us identify the body.
“Anyone with information on what happened is urged to come forward,” Ngobese said.
The victim is a white woman, aged between 50 and 60. A photo of her right shoulder shows a tattoo of two leaves.
The picture was also released on Tuesday in a bid to find someone who may recognise it and identify her.
In recent years, there have been several cases of body dumping at the Boksburg Lake, notoriously known by residents as the “lake of doom”.
In January 2014, a newborn baby’s body was found floating in a plastic bag in the water by a young girl. In late 2012, a fetus was discovered in the lake.
In the same year, the body of a man, later identified as Mzimasi Mkwantsa, was found in the lake while in February 2011, a woman’s body was also found floating in the water.
Anyone with information on the latest is urged to contact the investigating officer Warrant Officer Rudi Venter on 074 886 9754.
The Star