A Limpopo man accused of dousing his girlfriend in petrol and setting her alight after a heated argument will appear in court on Friday, police confirmed on Thursday. 

The 30-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday night after he handed himself over to Maake police. He'd been on the run since May 6, the day the alleged incident unfolded.

According to Limpopo police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo, the man's girlfriend Lindiwe Mogale, 35, had accompanied him to a filling station to buy petrol. 

"The couple thereafter proceeded to the boyfriend's house in Tickyline village but on the way reportedly got into a heated argument.

"The quarrel apparently continued when they arrived at the house [and that was when] the suspect poured petrol on his girlfriend and set the house alight. The neighbours were alarmed by the frantic screams and immediately went to the house."

Upon arrival, the shocked neighbours found the victim still engulfed in flames but managed to put them out.

The authorities were then called to the scene before the seriously injured woman was taken to hospital. Her boyfriend had allegedly already fled the scene.

"The victim succumbed to the injuries in hospital on Friday and the [initial] attempted murder case was consequently changed to murder," Mojapelo told TimesLIVE.

The man will appear in the Lenyenye magistrate's court, just outside Tzaneen, on murder charges. 

TimesLIVE