The police have opened an inquest docket following the discovery of a woman’s naked body in the veld near the Madiba Square shacks in Galeshewe on Tuesday.
THE GALESHEWE police have opened an inquest docket following the discovery of a woman’s body in the veld near the Madiba Square shacks in Galeshewe on Tuesday.
The woman’s naked body was found among some bushes in the overgrown veld by the K9 Search and Rescue team.
Community members said they had contacted the police on Tuesday morning after they saw a human arm being dragged around by a dog.
Galeshewe police spokesperson Sergeant Timothy Sam said that preliminary investigations had revealed that a dog was spotted by a resident chewing on what appeared to be a human arm inside the yard of a shack in Madiba Square.
Sam said the police were alerted and they combed the area in search of the body.
Community members claimed that the arm was that of a woman because the nails were manicured.
Their speculations were confirmed by the police upon the discovery of the naked body.
Women’s underwear and clothing items were found next to the body, which was badly decomposed.
The body was found in the same area where a man’s body was found with stab wounds in October last year.
Forensic pathology staff reportedly had to leave the scene on Tuesday as they were not wearing the correct personal protective equipment (PPE).
They needed to return to the office to collect boots, stating that the environment where the body was found was dangerous.
Meanwhile, the owner of the dog explained to the DFA that she was busy getting ready for work when she heard her neighbour chasing away her dog from his yard.
She said the dog ran away and left the arm behind.
“I was called to check whether the arm was indeed a human arm,” said the dog’s owner.
“We could see that the hand was that of a female because the nails were manicured.
“The smell was unbearable. We also thought the arm was burned.”
She believed that the body could not be far because her dogs never go far from home.
The woman said they called the police but the phone went unanswered.
“We were very frustrated and opted to send a voice note to the local radio station, RTSFM, to ask for help,” she said.
“It was only after that that someone called me for directions. I just assumed that the radio station contacted the police.”
The community said it took the police more than an hour to arrive at the scene.
They said that they feel unsafe and “sidelined” by the police.
The residents said that no one from the local community had been reported missing.
Apparently, someone at the scene was stopped from taking pictures of the arm on Tuesday morning after they claimed that they had a female relative who went missing.
Several residents spoke of an incident over a month ago when they heard a woman pleading for help in the middle of the night, but they were too afraid to intervene.
They said that they never go out at night for fear of their safety. “We are afraid because most of the shacks here are female headed,” said one resident.
“We knew that she cannot be one of us because she would have called someone’s name as we know each other,” said another woman.
“The woman kept on saying, ‘you are hurting me’ until her voice faded.
“We never followed up on what happened to her and assumed that if something bad had happened to her we would have heard a long time ago.”
Another resident said there was a time when a strong stench came from the direction of the veld, but it did not concern them.
“We know that the veld is used as a dumping place for dead animals and the drains are always overflowing there. So, a strong stench is never a mystery to us,” she said.
The police have requested anyone who has information that could assist with the investigation to contact the investigation officer, Sergeant Stephen Wax, at 082 469 1728 or via the MySAPS app.
