Since our report about 10 women being found dead in South Africa’s Ekurhuleni municipality near Johannesburg, an 11th woman was found dead. Read on for more details.
The 11th Discovery
The new report relates to another person found deceased in Springs within the same municipal area. Per IOL, “the woman was found semi-naked and appeared to have been strangled near a railway line.”
The body was first spotted near Rhokana Road by personnel from a local security company.
Because it forms part of a growing number of deaths, the specially formed task force was called in.
The team comprises Crime Scene Management, Investigative Psychology Services (IPS), and personnel from the Detectives and Crime Intelligence units.
Other Updates
In other updates, TimesLIVE reported that the tenth body, which was discovered near a cemetery in Thembisa on Saturday, now has a suspect. The woman has been identified as Ntombifuthu Nxumalo.
The outlet explained that witnesses said she’d been drinking with a friend, but later, she left with someone. Witnesses also heard a lot of screaming and yelling before her body was discovered.
Follow-up investigations revealed the male companion left the city for Limpopo province.
An Arrest
With the assistance of police officers from SAPS Bolobedu, police tracked the man to Mohlabaneng village, where he was taken into custody. Reportedly, he’d been fast asleep at the time.
Per SA Gov, “the Acting National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane, has commended Gauteng police for the swift apprehension of a suspect.”
So far, it doesn’t appear as if the suspect has been named.
Previous Arrests
Other arrests among the cases involving the 11 dead women included two females detained after the ninth body was found.
Before that, there was an arrest of another man who was the boyfriend of the first victim, who was found on July 15, naked and bound with cable ties. However, no charges have yet been laid against him.
Although the cases have not been identified as being the result of a serial killer, the latest victim was also found, like many others, partially nude. In this instance, police confirmed that it appeared she’d died by strangulation.
The deaths so far include stoning and possible strangulations, with some showing signs of sexual abuse.
Fear In The Community
The fact that all of these recent deaths happened in a relatively small area within the Ekurhuleni municipality has raised fears among the public of a possible serial killer.
Given that the task force is reportedly not permanently working together until a particularly bad outbreak of crime occurs, there have been calls in a petition for the Treasury to make funds available to establish a permanent specialized serial crime task force.
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