Mystery of mutilated body still unsolved

Gauteng Provincial SAPS detectives are still trying to unravel the mystery behind the discovery of a partially burnt and mutilated body of a woman found by a passer-by in a river in Katlehong in May.

The naked charred human remains with its limbs and head missing was spotted by a local resident in the early hours of Sunday, May 22, in a rivulet in the suburb of Silumaview, in Vosloorus. The resident then reported the gruesome find to the nearby Ramokonopi SAPS precinct in Katlehong.

The next day, Monday, May 23, a frantic woman from the nearby Ratanda township in Heidelberg, 30km away, called the Katlehong police reporting that she had witnessed her brother being kidnapped by several unknown armed men who raced away with him in an unmarked sedan on the night of Saturday the 21 and that she had not seen him since.

However, according to Capt. Mega Ndobe of the Katlehong SAPS, the description of the kidnapped victim did not match the dismembered female body found in Silumaview. According to Capt Ndobe, following a preliminary probe at the crime scene, Katlehong SAPS detectives were able to establish that the body had been dumped where it was found after the victim was killed elsewhere.

“Because of this, the case docket was then transferred over to provincial detectives for further investigations,” explained Capt. Ndobe.

Capt Ndobe told Kathorus Mail that by the time detectives arrived at the scene, they found a dismembered torso with its head, arms and lower body parts missing. The upper part of the body had been partially burnt and only what remained of its arms could be identified as those of a human body.

Ndobe told Kathorus MAIL that the upper part of the torso was severely burnt while the lower abdomen had been severed off making it difficult for the investigators to identify either the victim or its sex at the time. Ndobe explained that despite a thorough search of the surrounding area, investigators failed to locate any of the missing body parts.

Ndobe said police suspected at the time that the person may have been murdered elsewhere and the torso may have been transported from the scene of crime and dumped where it was found on Sunday morning. “Our suspicions may be confirmed by the woman’s call in Heidelberg while we wait for the forensic results to link the kidnapped person with the mutilated torso found in Vosloorus,” Ndobe explained.

Asked for comments about the case, Capt Mohlane, the media spokesperson for the Gauteng SAPS, told Kathorus MAIL that the body remains unidentified while forensic tests are being done to determine its identity. “All I can say for now is that it is a body of a female. But I cannot say how old she was or who she was,” said Mohlane.

Meanwhile, Mohlane has appealed to members of the public who have a missing female relative to kindly come forward and help the police to identify the unknown woman’s corpse. Capt. Mohlane can be contacted on 082 719 8373.