Police in South Africa have found another body of a woman in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, marking the 10th such discovery in recent months. The body was found on Saturday morning at a cemetery in the Tembisa neighbourhood. A friend identified the victim, who had been with her at a bar the previous evening. The police are investigating the possibility of a serial killer, citing similarities in the deaths.
The local police commissioner, Gauteng Police Commissioner Tommy Mthombeni, stated that the investigation is ongoing and it's too early to confirm a link between the latest death and the previous nine. However, he noted that the victims share a "similar victimology" and a shared "modus operandi" of killing. The police are working to gather evidence and determine if the latest death is connected to the others.
The discovery of the 10th body has sparked a national outcry about the scale of violence against women in South Africa, which has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world. According to the South African Human Rights Commission, 569 women were killed and 1,052 others survived attempted murder between April and June this year. The government had declared gender-based violence a national disaster less than a year ago.
The police have reported that most of the victims were young women who had suffered extreme violence prior to their deaths. The bodies were found in similar circumstances, with many discovered in Kempton Park, a neighbourhood near Tembisa. The police are working to track down suspects, with three men appearing in court earlier this week accused of being involved in one of the nine prior murders.
The South African police statistics do not differentiate victims by gender, but the country has one of the highest homicide rates, with 5,427 people murdered between April and June this year alone. The recent killings around Johannesburg have left many women reeling from the growing death toll. The police are urging anyone with information to come forward and assist with the investigation.
The friend of the latest victim expressed her grief, saying she recognised her friend's clothes from the previous night when shown a picture of the body. "I don't know what I'm going to say to her children," she said while wiping away tears. "It's painful." The police have yet to publicly identify the victim.
The investigation is ongoing, with crime scene investigators gathering evidence at the scene. The police are working to determine the motive behind the killings and identify the suspects. The national government is under pressure to address the issue of violence against women, with many calling for increased action to protect women and bring perpetrators to justice.
Key points
- The police are investigating the possibility of a serial killer, citing similarities in the deaths of the 10 women found in Ekurhuleni, near Johannesburg.
- The discovery of the 10th body has sparked a national outcry about the scale of violence against women in South Africa.
- The government had declared gender-based violence a national disaster less than a year ago, but many women remain vulnerable to violence.
