Limpopo man hacks wife to death, sets himself alight
Police in Limpopo are investigating a murder-suicide after a man allegedly hacked his wife to death with an axe before setting himself alight.
The charred remains of a 62-year-old man and the hacked body of his 57-year-old wife was discovered in Driekop, outside Burgersfort, on Wednesday.
Provincial spokesperson Motlafela Mojapelo says police were called to the scene by members of the community.
"We received a call and when we arrived on the scene we found the two bodies… a woman was found hacked in a shack and the other one was found burnt inside the house.”
A blood-stained murder weapon was found next to the woman’s body and a bottle containing the remnants of a flammable substance was also discovered nearby.
"Preliminary investigations indicate that the husband apparently hacked the wife, aged 57, and thereafter set alight a vehicle and a house and doused himself with petrol and set himself alight too," he adds.
The motive is unknown, but police say a domestic dispute cannot be ruled out.
The deceased have been identified as 62-year-old Phillip Mafalo and Magdeline Mpana Mahlokwane.
Cases of murder and arson are being investigated.
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It's alleged that the suspect was known to the officer and the pair had been involved in an argument a few days before the incident. The victim was apparently asleep at a friend's house on the night of the murder. Police spokesperson Katlego Mogale says the suspect then entered the house through the window armed with a knife.