Staff Reporter
A 46-year-old man has been arrested after leading police in Thabong, Welkom, to an open field where the body of Bokamoso Shabe, the eight-year-old girl who was allegedly abducted from school on Monday, had been dumped.
Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sam Makhele said in a statement this evening that the search for the child came to an end on Thursday afternoon when the police were led to the body by the suspect following an interrogation.
“Today . . . the team came across a gruesome scene where her body was found,” said Makhele.
“This after a visit to a suspected male’s house who after being questioned led the team to the scene in Riebeeckstad, Welkom, where the body was found wrapped in a duvet cover in an open field.
“She was still wearing her school uniform. A case of murder was opened for further investigation.”
Bokamoso, who was last seen at Mantshebo Primary School in Jerusalem Park at 13:30 on Monday, was reported abducted from the school by an unknown woman.
Following the alleged abduction, the girl’s family started receiving calls from people demanding a ransom of R50 000 for her safe return.
The police said in an earlier statement this week that the grandmother of the child was contacted hardly two hours after the child had been taken at about 15:00 by an unknown man who called himself Aubrey demanding an amount of R50 000.
The man reportedly told the granny that they would kill the child if they did not receive the money.
The following day, Tuesday at 08:45, the grandmother received another call from the same number where a woman by the name of Nthabeleng also demanded R50 000 in cash for the child to be returned to them.
Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane has described the incident as devastating and heartbreaking.
“It’s heartbreaking for any parent to lose their child, but it becomes more devastating to lose the child in this manner,” said Motswenyane in her condolence message to the family.
The suspect will face a charge of murder and is to appear at the Welkom Magistrates Court soon.
Makhele said additional arrests are expected.