Pretoria: The decomposed body of a woman has been discovered in the ceiling of a house in Minnaar Street, Balfour.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said the grim discovery was made yesterday morning.
“According to the report, the police received a complaint of a bad odour coming from a house in the area of Balfour. On arrival, police found a lady who indicated that she has moved into the said house about a month ago to stay with the father of her child,” Mohlala said.
Police officers searched the house, trying to pinpoint where the stench was coming from.
“At first, the ceiling trapdoor did not show clearly what was inside. However, the members proceeded to the next room and broke the ceiling where they made the discovery of a human body wrapped with some clothes,” said Mohlala.
“Emergency services personnel were summoned to the scene but the body was so decomposed that the gender could not be determined at that time. However, later, through the shoes that the victim was wearing as well as the nail polish and other features, it was determined that it was a female.”
A murder case is being investigated by the police.
On further questioning by police, the woman in the house indicated that she had been concerned about the odour and had raised the matter with her partner.
She said the man blamed it on rats.
“When she was asked about the whereabouts of her companion, the lady indicated that she last saw him on Saturday (October 1), when he had indicated that he was going to make payments of some accounts, and then he vanished,” said Mohlala.
The deceased has not been identified.
“The investigators believe that Mr Thabo Silas Tsotetsi could assist in their investigation. Therefore, police urge anyone who may know his whereabouts or anyone with information that may help in the investigation to contact Detective Sergeant Moeketsi Mofokeng at 072 351 3801 or call the Crime Stop number at 08600 10111,” said Mohlala.
“Alternatively, members of the public can send information via My SAPS App. All received information will be treated as confidential and callers may opt to remain anonymous.”
Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has condemned the incident.
“This is really heartbreaking for a woman to be murdered and her body concealed like that. We strongly suspect that this is another gender-based-violence incident but hope and trust that anyone behind the murderer will feel the full might of the law,” said Manamela.
IOL