CAPE TOWN - Police in the Free State had their hands full at the weekend as officers had to attend to three separate crime scenes where three women were killed and a child fatally injured.
Provincial police spokesperson Warrant Officer Mmako Mophiring said the crimes were reported in Qwaqwa, Bethlehem and Phuthaditjhaba.
On Saturday, at about 3.05pm police, were called to a crime scene in Captain Charles in Bohlokong near Bethlehem where the body of a 31-year-old woman was found lying inside a shack.
The victim had sustained a stab wound to her right ear. Her swollen and muddy body had been covered with a blanket.
Mophiring said the motive for the murder was not known at this stage and a case of murder was being investigated. No arrests had yet been made.
On Sunday, at 1.30pm, Tseki police and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were deployed to Phamong Village in Qwaqwa where a critically injured child and the bodies of a woman and a man with gunshot wounds were found on the floor of a home, as well as a firearm.
“The nine-year-old child was rushed to the local hospital as she was still alive but died later. It is alleged that the (woman’s) boyfriend was from Makwane Village and arrived at the house in Phamong, where he allegedly shot and fatally wounded the girlfriend, 22, the child and himself, 25,” Mophiring said.
The motive behind the murders was not known and a double murder case and an inquest docket had been opened for investigation.
Later on the same day, Mophiring said Phuthaditjhaba police were summoned to Mphatlalatsane Village just before 6pm where the body of a 28-year-old woman was found inside a house.
The woman is alleged to have been battered with a stick by her boyfriend. Her injuries led to her death.
“The suspect is still on the run but police are looking for him. The motive behind the killing is not yet known. A case of murder is being investigated,” Mophiring said.