A 25-year-old suspect arrested in connection with the alleged murder of a teacher, Kgomotso Maropola, 25, in Limpopo is expected to appear in the Modimolle magistrate's court on Monday.

Maropola’s body was found buried in a shallow grave next to a railway line in Phagameng location in Modimolle in March this year.

According to Limpopo police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo, the suspect was arrested on Friday.

“The victim, a teacher by profession at Noordelik School in Modimolle policing precinct, departed from her residence in Phagameng location intending to collect new clothes from a friend who ordered them through the internet,” he said.

Mojapelo said the victim never returned home and was reported missing early in March this year. A search operation was immediately launched for the missing woman.

Police intensified the investigations which led to the discovery of the victim’s decomposed body buried next to the railway line.

“A murder case was opened,” he said.

Modimolle detectives, a crime intelligence unit and members of the local criminal record centre formed a task team.

The team obtained a search warrant on March 14 at the house of the person she last had contact with to collect the clothes. DNA samples from a shack a few metres from the main house were collected and sent to the forensic science laboratory (FSL) for evidence.

“The DNA results came back and the analysis matched the evidence already collected by the team. An intelligence-driven operation was then conducted which led to the arrest of a 25-year-old male suspect on Friday,” said Mojapelo. 

Limpopo provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Thembi Hadebe commended the team for finally cracking the case.

“The brutality with which this murder appears to have been committed calls for the intensification of our resolve to fight gender-based violence. The investigating team is highly commended for finally apprehending the suspect,” she said.

The motive is unknown at this stage and police investigations are ongoing.

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