/ 7 April 2007

Soweto teenager found dead in fridge

A Soweto man is due to appear in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday after his teenage girlfriend was found dead in his fridge, Gauteng police said on Saturday.

The body of the 17-year-old, from Ermelo in Mpumalanga, was found crouched in the fridge on Friday morning, said Superintendent Thembi Nkhwashu.

She said the 37-year-old man handed himself over to Meadowlands police and led them to the scene.

”Her upper body was starting to turn blue. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Nkhwashu.

It appeared that the girl had been struck with a blunt object, as she had no open wounds.

”We don’t know if she died first or if he forced her to sit in the fridge and she suffocated there. A post-mortem will determine that.”

The girl was last seen by the alleged killer’s mother on Thursday night, when the two had supper together.

The man lived in a room in the backyard of his mother’s house in Meadowlands. — Sapa