Three men aged between 20 and 22 have been arrested in connection with the grisly m8rder of a 17-year-old girl, Koketso Ramahlo in South Africa.
Koketso’s partially burnt body was discovered in a street near her home in Hammanskraal, Gauteng province on New Year’s Day.
The suspects will appear in court on Tuesday, January 7, to face murder charges, according to SAPS district spokesperson Warrant Officer Marinda Austin.
Koketso’s family is still reeling from the shock, saying they were unsure if she had gone out with her boyfriend on the night of her murder.
Her mother, Nkhenthani Ramahlo, was too distraught to speak to the media but a close family friend Julia Mkhari, spoke on her behalf.
“The pain she is enduring is palpable, and I am deeply affected by it as well,” Mkhari said.
She said Koketso left with her friends on December 31 to celebrate the new year, but she later returned home to change her clothes and went out again.
She never returned home, prompting her family to launch a search on January 2.
The next day, January 3, the teenage girl’s grandmother made the horrific discovery of a lifeless, partially burnt body lying in the street near their home.
The body was later confirmed to be the missing girl, with relatives noting that she was found naked.
“The family is still reeling from the shock, we are deeply saddened and never thought something like this could happen to us,” Mkhari said.
In response to the tragedy, the community held a meeting on Friday, resolving to organise a manhunt for the alleged killer.
Community leader Bulo Dinokeng urged residents to remain calm and not take the law into their own hands, despite widespread anger and outrage over the murder.
“At this stage, we don’t know who the perpetrator is and speculation about the killer’s identity is premature,” he said.
