The body of a missing 16-year-old girl was found in a pit latrine behind the house of a man arrested for her murder in the village of Ditshilong near Taung, North West police said on Saturday.
Captain Adele Myburgh said Bontle Modisaotsile was last seen alive by her twin sister on August 2 when she told her sister that she was going to visit relatives in a nearby village.
When she failed to return home, her family went to look for her and found that she had never arrived for her visit. She was then reported missing.
Police searched in vain for her, following up on information provided. But, at about 8pm on Thursday, about 80 villagers descended on the house in Ditshilong of a man they implicated in her disappearance. They assaulted him and police arrived on the scene, managing to calm everybody down.
A police guard remained at the house throughout the evening to ensure that the community did not try to assault the man again, but also to ensure that he did not flee.
Search-and-rescue dogs were brought to his house on Friday morning to search his house and the surrounding area. One of the dogs reacted when it reached the pit latrine behind the house.
Police removed the structure surrounding the latrine and saw a foot sticking out of the pit, but were unable to remove the body.
Emergency services were called in and with their help police managed to empty the latrine and remove the decomposing body.
The body was identified by her parents as that of Modisaotsile.
The 37-year-old man, who was on the scene, collapsed and was rushed to hospital, where it was discovered that he had tried to kill himself with the pesticide Aldicarb (or Temic).
He is under police guard at the hospital, in a serious condition, and will be charged with murder and kidnapping when he has recovered. — Sapa