Teenager's burned body found next to highway

A teenaged girl’s burned body has been found under a tree next to the N1 highway through Bloemfontein, Free State police said on Wednesday.

Her body was discovered at 4pm on Tuesday by the young daughter of a police officer when she walked into the grass at the side of the road to relieve herself, said Superintendent Annelie Wrensch. “She immediately alerted her father.”

Wrensch said the dead girl was aged between 12 and 14.

She had been bound with wire and was thought to have been raped.

“Police suspect that the suspect poured diesel over her and set her alight, most probably after he had suffocated her,” she said. “The body was burned from the neck down and the tree was also partially burned.”

Police also suspect that the murder and rape took place where the body was found, said Wrensch.

A post-mortem will be conducted on Thursday to determine the time of the murder and the exact cause of death.—Sapa