Limpopo acting police commissioner Maj-Gen Jan Scheepers on Saturday strongly condemned the ongoing “ritual-related” crime incidents still prevalent in some parts of the province.
This followed the illegal exhumation of the body of a 50-year-old man in Tours village in the Sekororo region of the Maake policing area outside Tzaneen, Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said.
It was believed that two women from the village went to the local cemetery “to perform rituals at one of the relative’s grave”.
“While they were busy with that process they noticed that the grave was opened and the coffin was empty. They immediately notified the police who reacted swiftly and started with their initial investigations,” Ngoepe said.
The preliminary investigations revealed that the body of an unknown man, who was earlier found in the nearby bushes with missing body parts, was “that of the 50-year-old man exhumed from this grave”.
In other news:
The Saps Acting Provincial Commissioner Major General Jan Scheepers has condemned the persistent acts of ritual related incidents which are still prevalent in some parts of this Province, with the most strongest terms. pic.twitter.com/smHP0Bu1jI
— Giyani View (@giyaniview) June 16, 2018
The motive behind this incident is not clear at this stage, but ritual-related [reasons] may not be ruled out,” Ngoepe said.
Scheepers said members of the community still “perpetrating this type of incidents in this province must refrain abruptly from this heinous acts in the name of traditional beliefs… we are going to deal with them mercilessly and without compromise”.
No arrests had yet been made and anyone with information which could assist police to arrest the suspects involved in this matter should contact Colonel Cecil Machimana at 082-451-7181, or the crime stop number 08600-10111 or the crime line SMS 32211, or the nearest police station.
Source: IOL
