Swartruggens - A man has been arrested in connection with the murder and mutilation of a woman in Swartruggens last week, North West police said on Thursday.
He was taken into custody on Wednesday, Captain Pelonomi Makau said.
He was expected to appear in the Swartruggens Magistrate's Court on Friday.
The woman's body was found near the Swartruggens shopping complex by a passerby on Sunday. Her abdomen had been cut open and her heart and lungs removed.
“Her face was smashed with a stone... Her breasts were cut off and her private parts slightly cut with an unknown sharp instrument,” Makau said at the time.
“The victim is unknown and police are appealing to anyone with information of a missing person to contact the Swartruggens police station,” Makau said.
North West premier Thandi Modise commended the police for the swift arrest.
“We should unite in action against crime and intensify efforts to rid our communities of the escalating incidents and combat the scourge of gender-based violence,” she said.
Sapa