A 31-year-old man has been arrested after the body of a young woman was found stuffed in a suitcase. Police were called to a house in Ezakheni E-Section, where they found the partly decomposed body of a female on Sunday morning.

It is believed that the female was the girlfriend of one of the occupants of the house. The 31-year-old woman had been beaten to death with a blunt object. It is unknown at this stage why she was killed or when the killing took place.

According to bystanders, a bad odour led to family members searching an outbuilding. There, they made the gruesome discovery. Community members say police later returned to the house with one occupant of the house in handcuffs.

The suspect will appear in court on Tuesday morning.

Ezakheni detectives are investigating.