Polokwane – Police in Tzaneen and Thohoyandou have arrested two teenagers – both aged 17 and both girls – in connection with two separate murders, Limpopo police said on Sunday.
Police in Maake, Tzaneen, arrested a 17-year-old girl for allegedly killing a 21-year-old man at Sofaya village in the Sekororo area of the Maake policing precinct in the early hours of Sunday morning, Lt-Col Moatshe Ngoepe said.
It was alleged that the girl was on her way to a local tavern when she met the man "who wanted to rape her". She allegedly resisted, overpowered him, disarmed him of his knife, and stabbed him to death.
The man was later found dead along the tarred road by police on routine patrol. The man had been stabbed multiple times on his body.
The girl handed herself over to police at about 1am and she would appear in the Lenyenye Magistrate's Court on Monday.
The police investigation was continuing, Ngoepe said.
In the other incident, Thohoyandou police arrested a 17-year-old girl for allegedly killing her 60-year-old mother at Tshivhungululu village outside Thohoyandou last week, Ngoepe said.
It was alleged that on June 6 at about 4pm, the mother was at home and "tried to reprimand" the teenager for failing to attend school without reason.
However, the girl overpowered her mother and allegedly kicked her several times and left her lying on the ground. The woman was later taken to hospital where she died.
The teenager would appear in the Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court soon. The involvement of young girls in serious criminal activities such as murder was a matter of concern to police.
"Parents are advised to take full care of their children to prevent incidents like the one in Maake to happen.
Taking into serious concern a 17-year-old girl who was walking along the street to a liquor outlet at midnight, it is totally unacceptable and it must be condemned in the most strongest terms... especially considering the high rate of rapes and killings of young girls in recent days in this province," Ngoepe said.