The mother of an eight-year-old girl who was kidnapped and later found killed, allegedly by her close relative, said she was shocked and struggled to accept the sad news.
The body of the girl, who the police suspect was also raped before being murdered, was found yesterday morning in the bushes near a local créche at Xipungu village outside Tzaneen in Limpopo.
The mother told Sowetan: "I'm still shocked and struggling to accept the sad news. Please speak to the police, they will give you all the details."
Police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo said the girl disappeared on Monday after the suspect allegedly fetched her from her caregiver and later switched off his cellphone.
"Members of the Tzaneen Tracking Team received information on Wednesday night that the suspect had gone to consult a traditional healer at Acornhoek in Mpumalanga, and on arrival at about 1am yesterday, the suspect was indeed found and arrested.
"Further investigations led the team to an area next to a local créche at Xipungu village in Letsitele policing area outside Tzaneen, where the body was found in the bushes."
Mojapelo added that a crime scene investigation suggested that the child might have been raped before being murdered. "[But] this will be determined by forensic investigations that are unfolding."
The child, who was in grade 1 at a local primary school, was reportedly left with a caregiver, who is also a family member, on Monday when she suddenly went missing.
Mojapelo said "preliminary investigations revealed that the child was last seen in the company of the suspect, walking to a nearby shop".
"He later told some community members that the child was kidnapped by unknown men traveling in a Toyota Quantum," he said.
MEC for social development Nkakareng Rakgoale said she was saddened by the girl's murder and the suspected rape.
Rakgoale said social workers who have been with the family since she was reported missing will continue providing psychosocial support services to the affected parties.
She said her department has so far this year recorded about 250 cases of gender-based violence in the province.
The suspect, aged 34, will be charged with kidnapping, rape and murder. He is expected to appear in the Ritavi magistrate's court today.
