Police fear that the man who was arrested for being in possession of seven vaginas could in fact have mutilated more women, with the number of victims estimated to run into hundreds.
Yesterday, the Bloemfontein, Free State, man appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court following the discovery of seven female genitalia at his home last week.
The 63-year-old man was arrested on the same day and slapped with a number of charges, including sexual assault and possession of child pornography material.
His case was postponed to next Monday for a bail application. Warrant Officer Lynda Steyn of the Hawks said there were fears that the number of mutilated women could be more.
"So far we have found seven female genitalia in a fridge at a residential area in Bloemfontein. It is still early stages [in the investigation] but the numbers could go up," Steyn said.
Asked for an estimate on how much the numbers could rise, Steyn said: "I think up to hundreds."
Steyn, who by her own admission said that she has seen "worse" than what she came across last week, said they were made aware of the gut-wrenching discovery by people from the child welfare.
"We made an arrest on the same day and we are still questioning him," she said.
The man, according to Steyn, has one previous conviction when he was found in possession of elephant tusks.
Clinical psychologist Dr Puseletso Dlukulu said she found it hard to say what could drive an individual to commit such horrible crimes. She would have to examine him first.
She did, however, point to a number of different factors that could set a person off to commit those crimes.
"It could be anything from a belief system to a person being psychotic. Perhaps that person is vindictive. It can be anything really and it is very difficult to say what drove him to do that when I have not seen him," Dlukulu said.
selebim@sowetan.co.za
'Slasher may have more victims'
Police fear that the man who was arrested for being in possession of seven vaginas could in fact have mutilated more women, with the number of victims estimated to run into hundreds.
Yesterday, the Bloemfontein, Free State, man appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court following the discovery of seven female genitalia at his home last week.
The 63-year-old man was arrested on the same day and slapped with a number of charges, including sexual assault and possession of child pornography material.
His case was postponed to next Monday for a bail application. Warrant Officer Lynda Steyn of the Hawks said there were fears that the number of mutilated women could be more.
"So far we have found seven female genitalia in a fridge at a residential area in Bloemfontein. It is still early stages [in the investigation] but the numbers could go up," Steyn said.
Asked for an estimate on how much the numbers could rise, Steyn said: "I think up to hundreds."
Steyn, who by her own admission said that she has seen "worse" than what she came across last week, said they were made aware of the gut-wrenching discovery by people from the child welfare.
"We made an arrest on the same day and we are still questioning him," she said.
The man, according to Steyn, has one previous conviction when he was found in possession of elephant tusks.
Clinical psychologist Dr Puseletso Dlukulu said she found it hard to say what could drive an individual to commit such horrible crimes. She would have to examine him first.
She did, however, point to a number of different factors that could set a person off to commit those crimes.
"It could be anything from a belief system to a person being psychotic. Perhaps that person is vindictive. It can be anything really and it is very difficult to say what drove him to do that when I have not seen him," Dlukulu said.
selebim@sowetan.co.za
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