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.
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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.
