Staff Reporter
An elderly woman from Thaba Nchu has been found dead and her house ransacked, Free State police said.
Circumstances surrounding the alleged killing are still unknown but it is believed the 70-year-old woman could have been suffocated to death as she was found with a cloth over her nose.
The incident comes as South Africa battles an increase in cases of gender-based violence across the country with three brutal murders in past few weeks leaving many people shaken.
According to the police, a neighbour at Modutung Trust in Selosesha, Thaba Nchu, reported that she saw the victim’s door open at about 7:15pm on Monday and assumed that she was still serving customers as she had a tuck shop.
“Realising that the door was still opened the next day on Tuesday 16 June 2020, the neighbour went to investigate and found the victim lying on the floor,” said the police in a statement.
“Police were summoned to the scene and found that the house had been ransacked.
“The victim had a cloth over her nose and it is suspected that she was suffocated.”
A case of murder is now being investigated by the Selosesha detective unit.
Free State Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant Baile Motswenyane has requested the community to stand up against the escalating gender-based violence in the country and assist by identifying those responsible for these gruesome acts.
On Monday last week, eight-month pregnant Tshegofatso Pule, 28, was found hanging from a tree in Johannesburg with injuries to her body.
Naledi Phangindawo, 25, was stabbed to death in Mossel Bay about two weeks ago. A man believed to be her partner has been arrested.
And last Friday, the body of another young woman, Sanele Mfaba, was found dumped under a tree in Johannesburg’s Soweto.
The incidents have sparked social media campaigns calling for more to be done to protect women.