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Murdered Limpopo student Kgaogelo Shai's boyfriend was a convicted killer

Police said Limpopo student Kgaogelo Shai may have been strangled. They revealed that her boyfriend, Ronny Kgatla, who is the main suspect in her killing, had killed before and was on parole.
Police said Limpopo student Kgaogelo Shai may have been strangled. They revealed that her boyfriend, Ronny Kgatla, who is the main suspect in her killing, had killed before and was on parole.
Image: Supplied / SAPS

Letaba Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College student Kgaogelo Shai, who was found dead two weeks after she went missing, may have not known she was in a relationship with a convicted murderer.

Limpopo police on Wednesday revealed that the 20-year-old woman's boyfriend, Ronny Kgatla, who is the main suspect behind her killing, had killed before.

“We can confirm that Ronny Kgatla was a parolee after he was incarcerated for murdering his former girlfriend,” Brig Motlafelo Mojapelo told TimesLIVE.

Kgatla committed suicide by hanging. The 35-year-old man's body was found on August 31.

Police had been searching for Shai since then. She was last seen in Kgatla's company on August 29. The couple had lived separately in Mokgoloboto village. Mojalepo said Shai's decomposing body was found on Monday morning in the village's Dan Extension 2.

“Her body was found in a dry stream by police from Ritavi and the K9 unit, and was already in a state of decomposition,” Mojapelo said. “The deceased might have been strangled but there were [other] visible injuries,” Mojapelo said.

A case of murder was registered against the already deceased Kgatla.

TimesLIVE

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