‘We miss them terribly,’ says family of strangled woman and infant

Martinette Lensley, the cousin of Chantelle Ash, the 20-year-old mother who was strangled along with her infant, said the family is finding it hard to deal with the tragedy.

“Chantelle’s mom and brother are struggling. To soon have we lost one of our loved ones,” Lensley said.

The family feels that social media posts may at this point hampering the police’s investigation.

“We would prefer that no personal information of Chantelle or Tasneem be published on social media as this might influence the investigation. There are so many rumours doing the rounds.  The more stuff people post, the more he will flee,” she said, referring to the suspect sought by the police.

Police are still looking for the man, who they say can assist in the investigation, and a photo has been made available.

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Last week, the mom and baby’s lifeless bodies were discovered by an employee of a lodge outside Mokopane. Both had been strangled.

Bosveld can confirm that the suspect was thought to be in the process of fleeing the country, and Interpol had been notified of the case.

Once the autopsies on the victims’ bodies have been finalised, the family plans to have a funeral service in Pretoria. Due to Covid-19 regulations, only close family will be allowed, but the service will be live-streamed on Facebook.

The family expressed their gratitude towards everyone for the love and support in this time, Lensley concluded.

They are currently raising funds to contribute to the funeral costs.

This article was republished from Review Online with permission 

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