Gruesome murder: Man held

2003-07-03 23:23

Lieze du Preez

Rustenburg - A Phokeng taxi driver has been arrested in connection with the death of two teenage girls, whose badly mutilated bodies were found outside the town earlier this week

The brains of one of the girls had been removed and her ear cut off.

The two, Mapula Lonkokile, 14, and Tshiamo Dominica Gaope, 10, were last seen on Friday when they were sent to town to buy food. When they didn't return, they were reported missing.

Their bodies were found on the outskirts of the Lemenonge area in Phokeng on Tuesday afternoon.

Their parents are neighbours.

Inspector Phoeboe Moseki, police spokesperson in the Marico area, says the possibility is being investigated that the girls were raped and that their murders could be muti related.

Tshiamo's half-naked body was found in a bush. Her hands had been tied behind her back with a shirt and a portion of her big toe had been cut off.

Mapula's body was found about 45m further. Police say her skull had been cracked open and her brains removed. Her right ear had been cut off and she had been covered with a skirt.

- Beeld