Galeshewe - A night out drinking ended in a tragedy after the body of a woman was found with a slit throat in Galeshewe.
The young woman, whose identity is still unknown, had her throat slit and head bashed in, apparently with a large rock, while her jeans and underpants were pulled down to her knees.
The body was found by passers-by at around 2am on Saturday morning in an alley behind the Lerato Place of Safety.
One man, who wished to remain anonymous, said on Sunday that he had been walking home in the early hours of Saturday when he saw the body of a woman in the dark dirt road.
“I was drinking at the shebeen and on my way home I stumbled upon a woman lying in the middle of a dirt road.
“Her body was covered in blood, with a large rock next to her head. Her throat was slit open and her face covered by pieces of her braids, while her feet were bare. I also noticed a beer bottle beside her, which seemed to have slipped from her hand. Her pants and panties were pulled down, which made me believe that she had been raped before or after she was killed,” the man said.
Vivian Musungwa, whose house is near to where the victim was found, said she heard people screaming outside, saying that a body had been found.
“I didn’t hear the victim scream for help or beg for mercy, even though it happened right outside my house. When I went outside I could see in the way the dirt was disturbed that there was a struggle.
“Pieces of braided hair lay scattered around her, which made me believe that her attacker dragged her by her hair and pulled the braids out while doing so. She was a beautiful, young woman with a dark complexion,” she said.
Musungwa also said that the victim’s head had apparently been bashed with a rock, and even showed reporters the place where the alleged attacker is believed to have taken the rock from. The rock was apparently about three times the size of a human head.
Police arrived at the scene shortly after the body was found but none of the community members could identify the woman. The body was taken away in a pathology van shortly before 4am.
Police collected the rock and the pieces of braids that lay scattered around her, as evidence. The blood that was left after the body was taken away was covered with soil.
Security officers from the Place of Safety apparently saw a man enter the alleyway on the footage recorded by a surveillance camera facing the entrance to the alleyway.
“On the footage one man is briefly seen entering the alleyway but because it was so dark and the camera only faces the entrance to the alleyway and not the whole stretch, it is very hard to make out anything,” one man said.
He added that it was suspected that the woman entered the alleyway from the opposite direction because she didn’t appear on the camera footage.
Community members said that police searched for footprints, but could not find any, possibly because the victim was barefoot.
They added that the incident had sent shock waves through the community, with many horrified by the brutal and violent manner in which the woman had been killed.
“Today we are not fine. Most of us are still shaken and shocked after the incident. An innocent young woman was raped, had her head bashed in with a rock and her throat slit. Only a monster could have done these things. The community and especially women are scared,” one man said.
Police spokesman, Lieutenant Sergio Kock, on Sunday confirmed that the police in Galeshewe were investigating a murder after the body of a woman was discovered in an alley in Methodist Street.
“The deceased had approximately two to three stab wounds on her neck. She also had extensive injuries to her head. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of her death.
“The woman was dressed in a light blue jeans, a black top and she was barefoot. She was approximately 20 years old, 1.6 metres tall and dark in complexion. She was slender and had black weaved extensions in her hair. The police request anyone with information to contact Detective Warrant Officer Gys Smith on 082 302 0393.”
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