Durban — A relative found a grandmother murdered, her daughter and granddaughter raped and strangled to death in Pietermaritzburg on Monday night.
The incident took place on Dube Drive, Sobantu township in Pietermaritzburg.
Police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said that a relative was left traumatised when he found his three family members lying on the floor at their residence with bruises and strangulation marks on their necks.
“A 65-year-old grandmother was murdered while her 46-year-old daughter and granddaughter, 8, were allegedly raped and strangled to death,” Ngcobo said.
She said Mountain Rise police opened a docket with three counts of murder and two counts of rape for investigation.
Ngcobo said that police at the scene questioned people in the area and the information received led them to a house of a 29-year-old man who was last seen with the victims.
She said that police proceeded to the man’s residence with the hope of getting more information to assist with the investigation.
“They were stunned to find the man in blood-stained clothes. He failed to provide police with a satisfactory response for the blood stains on his clothes. He was arrested and charged with three counts of murder and two counts of rape,” Ngcobo said.
She said the suspect would appear in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court soon.
KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza expressed shock and disappointment at the continual incidents of rape and murder of women and children in the province.
The department said that the relative had gone to the main house to prepare dinner.
It is alleged that mother and the daughter were raped first before being strangled to death. The grandmother was assaulted and strangled to death.
“We are shocked by the incident of a rape and murder of grandmother, mother and a child. Such disgusting acts show that we have people in our society who have lost their moral compass and cannot even see what is wrong with such acts,” Khoza said.
Daily News