Elderly Limpopo woman and daughter attacked by panga-wielding man

An elderly woman and her daughter were hacked with a panga by a man suspected to be the daughter's ex-boyfriend around midnight on Monday in Mashau Bodwe village outside Louis Trichardt, Limpopo. 

Police said the 77-year-old woman, Rose Mabasa, had succumbed to her injuries.  

The 43-year-old suspect was arrested in the early hours of Monday, after he handed himself over to the police at Levubu. He is facing charges of murder, attempted murder kidnapping and house robbery, said Limpopo police spokesperson Col Malesela Ledwaba.

“The elderly woman, her daughter, and her daughter's three children were attacked by the young woman's ex-boyfriend after he forcibly entered their house. The suspect hacked both mother and daughter with a panga and thereafter forced his five-year-old child into the vehicle belonging to his mother (ex-girlfriend) and drove away.

“Both victims were taken to hospital after they sustained severe injuries.

“Consequent to the horrific incident, the police opened two counts of attempted murder, kidnapping and theft of a motor vehicle, and the manhunt was then launched,” Ledwaba said.

The victim's vehicle was later found abandoned in Makhado and the child found safe at his father's homestead in Mashamba village.

When the older woman later succumbed to her injuries the attempted murder case was changed to murder.

The suspect is expected to appear in the Vuwani magistrate's court on Tuesday.

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