The mood was sombre at the residence of the slain Karabo ‘Bontle’ Mokoena in Soweto on the evening of 11 May when relatives and friends gathered to pay their respects to the family.
As is tradition, friends and relatives gathered to show support and to bring comfort to the family after their daughter was murdered.
Karabo was last seen on 28 April and her body was found dumped and burnt in a veld in Lyndhurst the next day. The family, however, only found out about her death on 10 May, even though they had reported her missing.
Her pictures were also circulated on various social media platforms with friends and family searching for her.
In an exclusive interview, Karabo’s distraught father, Tshepo Mokoena told North Eastern Tribune that the family is ‘traumatised’ by the manner in which their daughter had died.
Tshepo said that, traditionally, a week after the Easter holidays, the family takes a vacation to Durban and they have been doing so over the past five years.
“This year we decided we are not going as a family but I had travelled to KwaZulu-Natal myself on that weekend for work purposes.
“It was on Thursday 27th that I went there and my wife called me on the Friday saying she can’t find Karabo, her cellphone was also off and it scared her.”
He added that the reason she was scared, was because Karabo had come home with a bruise on her face about two weeks before she went missing.
Tshepo said that when he asked her what had happened, she confessed to having been assaulted by her boyfriend. They reported the matter to the Morningside Police Station because the incident took place in Sandton.
Read: #RIPKarabo: 27-year-old boyfriend arrested in connection with #KaraboMokoena’s death
“So when I came back from Durban on Monday, my wife told me again that she hadn’t been able to locate her, and that’s when we went to open a case of a missing person with the Diepkloof police,” he said.
“I also contacted the investigating officer who is handling her case of assault just to check on the progress and if there’d been any arrest made,” said an emotional Tshepo.
“The investigating officer told me the boyfriend did come to the station but was ‘let go’ by their senior officer.”
Also read: #RIPKarabo: ‘Karabo was a gentle soul’
When the police went back to the apartment days later, Tshepo said they found the carpets were wet and there were spots of blood in the apartment. “That’s when I knew inside myself that my daughter was dead. I already knew,” he sobbed.
He said they then requested footage from the building manager which showed the boyfriend pulling a 24-litre waste bin into his apartment and later taking it out.
According to Sandringham Police Station spokesperson, Captain Mohlaume Mamabolo, the suspect was arrested on 10 May and will appear in the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court on 12 May on a murder charge.
Details: Sandringham Police Station 011 719 4844.
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