MYSTERY still surrounds the brutal killing of a plot dweller in Dalmada, outside Polokwane in Limpopo, and the gang raping of his 64-year-old partner last Saturday.

MYSTERY still surrounds the brutal killing of a plot dweller in Dalmada, outside Polokwane in Limpopo, and the gang raping of his 64-year-old partner last Saturday.

Yesterday Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe, spokesperson for police in Polokwane, identified the dead man as Richard Thembe, 54, of Malamulele in the Giyani area.

"We are still in the dark over the motive for the killing and sexual attack on the woman.

"Our information is that a gang of 15 men, wearing balaclavas, broke into the couple's house at about 3am and assaulted the man with an assortment of weapons.

"Others took turns in raping the woman. They also assaulted a 3-year-old girl who was staying with the couple at the time," Ngoepe said.

The woman is receiving medical care in hospital while the child was treated for shock and discharged on the same day.