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Seshego police investigate murder-suicide incident

The victim's two children discovered the bodies in the house before police were called to the scene.

POLOKWANE – The provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has strongly condemned a gender-based violence incident in Seshego in which a man allegedly assaulted and killed his girlfriend before hanging himself.

According to police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, police were summoned to the scene at a house in Extension 133 on Sunday morning (January 22) and on arrival, found the bodies of a 41-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man.

“The woman was found with bruises on her back in her bedroom and her boyfriend’s body was found hanging from the roof rafters in the passage. It is believed the boyfriend assaulted his girlfriend and she succumbed to her injuries. He then hanged himself after,” his statement read.

Mojapelo said the two bodies were discovered by the couple’s two children, aged nine and 13.

“The motive behind the incident is unknown at this stage but domestic violence cannot be ruled out. An inquest docket has been opened as well as a case of murder,” he said.

You might also want to read: Limpopo police investigate murder-suicide outside Louis Trichardt

Hadebe has urged people experiencing domestic challenges to seek help immediately instead of resorting to violence.

Following the incident, the spokesperson for the Department of Social Development, Joshua Kwapa said the family were visited by social workers.

“We will be providing trauma counseling to the children and related psycho-social support. Our social workers are working with the family,” he told the Review-Observer.

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Raeesa Sempe

Raeesa Sempe is a Caxton Award-winning Digital Editor with nine years’ experience in the industry. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Media Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand and started her journey as a community journalist for the Polokwane Review in 2015. She then became the online journalist for the Review in 2016 where she excelled in solidifying the Review’s digital footprint through Facebook lives, content creation and marketing campaigns. Raeesa then moved on to become the News Editor of the Bonus Review in 2019 and scooped up the Editorial Employee of the Year award in the same year. She is the current Digital Editor of the Polokwane Review-Observer, a position she takes pride in. Raeesa is married with one child and enjoys spending time with friends, listening to music and baking – when she has the time. “I still believe that if your aim is to change the world, journalism is a more immediate short-term weapon. – Tom Stoppard

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