UPDATE: Two suspects arrested for the murder of a 15-year-old girl
15-year-old girl was found dead under a bridge connecting Protea North and Naledi
September 19, 2019 @ 09: 17
The murder of 15-year-old girl rocked the communities of Protea North and Naledi last week when the community discovered her body under the bridge connecting the two communities. Naledi SAPS have since arrested two suspects for her murder.
The police arrested two male suspects aged 18 and 19 respectively last Tuesday night following an investigation into the murder. The suspects are set to appear in Protea Magistrates’ Court.
Police say the cause of death is still unknown as they are still awaiting results from the forensic report according to Naledi SAPS spokesperson, Constable Dakalo Phemula. Police, however, found the young girl’s body with scratches on the upper body.
Naledi SAPS Station Commander, Colonel Mbanyele, has commended the police for their quick response on the case and has furthermore condemned violence against women and children.
“The police station would like to thank all the community members who came forward with the information,” said Constable Phemula.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised the nation a multi-pronged strategy to tackle gender-based violence and ensure that women in this country are safe.
The president, in a national address on September 5, promised that harsher sentences would be imposed on those convicted of crimes against women and children.
President Ramaphosa also said that parliament would look into a register of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) offenders and making this register public. Amongst the strategy that would be employed by the government to deal with this scourge against women and children government would also be dealing with the national backlog on GBV cases and DNA testing backlogs. To achieve this, the president also said that more money would be allocated to fighting GBV.
It remains to be seen whether these plans will come into effect and how effective they will be in reducing the statistics of women and children that sexually assaulted, harassed and killed at the hands of men in South Africa.
September 17, 2019 @ 09:12
The communities of Protea North and Naledi were shocked when they discovered the body of a young girl under the bridge connecting the two communities last Sunday.
The 15-year old’s body was found by community members who were passing by and multiple theories have surfaced about what happened to the young girl. Naledi SAPS say she was found with scratch marks on the top half of her body.
Police say details around the case are still sketchy at this point and investigation is underway to find out the cause of death. “This is a very dangerous place…this is an active zone. Our community members need to know the importance of using the right route. People asked for a bridge and they got it but now they are not using it and they are getting killed while using their shortcuts,” said Ntate Moruti (Pastor) Zakes Masike who is one of the community members who discovered the body.
[also read] – Protea Glen police still investigating the murder of Refilwe Molete (36) from Naledi extension two
Masike went on to reiterate that it does not matter where the young girl was coming from or what time she was crossing the bridge, she did not deserve to die. “We are all hurt by her death, she is one of us. I was a teacher in the Naledi area for 30 years so I know a lot of things and I know a lot of people in this community so I probably taught her parents at one stage. She is our daughter and we are all deeply touched,” he added.
This young girl’s death comes following the deaths of Uyinene Mrwetyana and Jessie Hess, who were both 19, which sparked outrage amongst women throughout the country. Civil society organisations and women took to the streets of Sandton last Friday with the message that business cannot go on as usual while women and children are under attack in the country.
The Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, announced last week the murder of women in South Africa had gone down 5.4% in the 2018/19 financial year but this statistic was marred by the fact that children’s murder rate had increased 2.9%. There was also an increase in sexual offences against children with over 24 000 children reported cases found, this is a 3.4% increase from the 2017/18 financial year.
Naledi Police have condemned the killing of women and children and are asking the community to come forward to report if they have any information about the case. Anyone with information is asked to contact Naledi SAPS’ Detective Makhubele on 072 173 7344 or the SAPS crime stop line on 08600 10111.
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