Durban - Less than 24 hours after a Merebank woman was suffocated with a plastic packet and strangled with an extension cord, a man has handed himself in to police.
He was expected to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on a charge of murder.
The body of Ashika Singh, 35, was discovered by her mother, Dolly, in the early hours of Monday morning.
Speaking before Singh’s funeral service on Tuesday, her cousin, Adhil Chunder, said Dolly had returned home from a casino to find the front gate to their home jammed.
A courtesy car that had been on loan to Singh from a panel beating shop was also missing, he said.
Singh lived alone with her mother. Her father had died many years ago.
Her mother went into the house where she found Singh’s partially naked body in her bedroom. An extension cord was wrapped around her neck and a plastic packet over her head.
It is suspected that Singh may have been strangled on Sunday evening.
The courtesy car was found in the Point area on Monday morning.
Chunder said he received a phone call from the shocked mother after she had found Singh’s body.
He hurried to the home in Alwar Road and found Singh’s body on her bed.
The room was in disarray and items of clothing were strewn on the floor.
“I arrived at the house at around 3am.
“Her mother was distraught,” Chunder said.
Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said a 30-year-old man had handed himself in to Wentworth police on Monday.
Zwane said the motive for the killing was unknown.
Singh’s funeral took place at the Merebank Community Hall.
This is the second time within a month that a Merebank woman has been strangled.
Just weeks ago, Charmaine Naidoo was kidnapped from her home and found in KwaMakhutha.
A nightclub bouncer and his alleged accomplice have been charged with her murder.
Daily News