By: Natasha Archary
Police have arrested a 21-year old man after the bodies of six people were discovered in a panel beating shop in Johannesburg.
The bodies are believed to be that of female sex workers, and were said to be in a terrible state of decomposition.
Police were alerted to the building after complaints of a foul smell that was coming from the man’s panel beating shop.
It is reported that the suspect lives in the same building and was allegedly the last person to be seen with one of the deceased woman.
The Provincial Murder and Robbery Unit will be investigating six counts of murder after the gruesome discovery was made.
#sapsGP #SAPS Johannesburg apprehended a 21yr-old man for murder following the discovery of six bodies in a building in Johannesburg CBD on Sunday, 09/10. Provincial Murder and Robbery unit is investigating 6 counts of murder. MEhttps://t.co/4X7sE66k75 pic.twitter.com/YFzc54VPSj
— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) October 10, 2022
SAPS spokesperson, Brigadier Brenda Muridili, said police first found the body of a female, on Sunday, 09 October.
The woman was reportedly last seen with the suspect on 02 October at approximately 20h00 and was not seen again by her loved ones.
She was reported missing and the clothes she was found in matched the description of her missing person’s report. The woman was according to police working as a sex worker.
“A preliminary investigation led the police to the suspect, believed to be the last person seen with the deceased woman.
It is reported that on 2 October 2022 at 20:00, the suspect was seen with the deceased woman. She was never seen again until her body was discovered on Sunday morning. The clothes she was wearing matches the description of one of the missing persons reported recently.”
Once police questioned the suspect they were led to the bodies of five other people. Police were unable to identify the victims and a forensic report will be done to identify all five bodies.
“Unfortunately these bodies were at a very late stage of decomposition and the police are not able to identify the bodies yet but they will be subjected to forensic analysis so that they can be identified.”
At this point police can’t confirm if all victims were sex workers, but there are reports of two or three sex workers who have gone missing in the area.
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