Durban - A PRIVATE investigator and the public are concerned there is not enough information available that could help identify a woman who was found with her throat slit in Inanda on Monday morning.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said the body of the woman, in her twenties, was found by the community at the sports ground at Newtown A with her throat slit and hands cut off.
“A case of murder was opened at the Inanda police station for investigation,” said Mbele. The police appealed for anyone with information about the incident or the woman’s identity to contact their local police or Crime Stop at 08600 10111.
According to residents, it appeared that the woman had been murdered elsewhere and her body dumped at the sports ground. The woman was slim, had long black hair and was wearing jeans, a red T-shirt, black jacket and black shoes.
Ward councillor Vuzi Gebashe said what he saw was traumatic. “Her throat was slit and her hands were cut off. “There were tyre tread marks near her body and it appeared that she had not been killed where she was found.” “It looked like she was killed elsewhere because there was no blood there,” said Gebashe.
When asked if the woman may have been killed and her hands cut off for muti purposes, former chairperson of the Traditional Healers’ Association Sazi Mhlongo said people believed in things that were not true, such as that body parts could bring them luck. Mhlongo said using hands for muti was something real traditional healers would not know about, but those who practised black magic would.
A source known to the Daily News said a family had gone to view the body at Phoenix Medical Legal Mortuary thinking she was part of their family, but she was not the person they were looking for.
“So far she has not been identified,” the source said. It was also suggested that the woman had not been reported missing.
Posts of the incident on Facebook were followed by comments from users asking for more information that might help identify the woman. People wondered if she had any tattoos or distinctive marks or features. Others even called for a sketch artist to make a likeness that could be distributed.
Yesterday, private investigator Brad Nathanson said there was not enough information or distinguishing features that could help identify the woman. “It’s a slap in the face for the deceased, not only was her body discarded like rubbish but nobody has gone to any real effort to find out who she is,” said Nathanson.
He said the identification of the woman would subsequently lead to the identification of the suspect/s, and was thus of paramount importance. “The longer it is left, the longer the killer/s will be on the loose.”
Nathanson also said that about 50 people had contacted him thinking it could be their missing loved one. “But of those 50, there were at least 14 possibilities.”
He said had never seen his inbox so full. On his Facebook page, Nathanson said that until crime in this country was dealt with, with the heavy hand that was required, gender-based violence apparently meant nothing. There appeared to be more crimes against women and children than ever before, he said.
Daily News