The forensic pathologist who was called to testify in a murder trial of a North West teacher said it was difficult to determine whether or not the woman died a violent death.

The court had asked Cuban forensic pathologist Dr Antonio Anchonfok Lee if he had found anything on the body of Thulisile Ngwenya that showed whether  she was raped before being murdered.

“When the body is decomposed, it is difficult to prove the different alterations in the body. I put the cause of death as ‘undetermined’ because I did not find enough evidence [to prove if she was first raped before being killed],” he said.

Ngwenya, a Lekoko Primary School teacher, was murdered in October last year in Mahikeng. Her body was found a week after she went missing - decomposed and half-naked. The accused, Headman Njokweni and Sfiso Ndawonde, listened attentively as the pathologist explained to court what he had observed.

Njokweni and Ndawonde face murder, kidnapping, rape and robbery charges each.

In the previous court proceedings, the police officer who was called to the scene, Warrant Officer Molefi Eric Tsatsi, said Ngwenya was found naked from the waist down. He said it looked as if the accused had dragged her for some distance as her heels were full of mud. It had rained a day before the incident.

Ngwenya was last seen going to the local bank in Mahikeng. But she never returned to her car, which was parked at the nearby taxi rank.

The court was adjourned on Monday as the pathologist could not pronounce some English words properly. The court now has to find a Spanish interpreter.

The trial continues.