Grandmother Murdered, Her Daughter And 8-Year-Old Granddaughter Raped And Strangled To Death

A grandmother, her daughter, and granddaughter were found dead in their home in Sobantu, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in what is being investigated as a brutal triple murder.

The victims, 65-year-old Zanela, her 46-year-old daughter, Smangele, and 8-year-old granddaughter, Zenande Ndlela were found dead on Monday evening, June 27, a police spokesperson said.

Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo, who confirmed the incident in an official statement on Tuesday, said Smangele and her daughter were raped before they were strangled to death.

A 29-year-old man, who remains unidentified, has been arrested on murder and rape charges, according to reports.

"A relative was left traumatized when he found his three family members lying on the floor at their residence with bruises and strangulation marks on their necks," the statement read, Igbere TV reported.

"A 65-year-old grandmother was murdered whilst her 46-year-old daughter and granddaughter, aged 8 were allegedly raped and strangled to death.”

"The incident took place last night on Dube Drive, Sobantu in Pietermaritzburg. Mountain Rise police opened a docket with three counts of murder and two counts of rape for investigation.

"While at the scene, police questioned people in the area and the information received led them to a house of a 29-year-old man who was last seen with the victims.”

"They proceeded to the man’s residence with the hope of getting more information to assist with the investigation. They were stunned to find the man in blood-stained clothes.”

"He failed to provide police with a satisfactory response for the blood stains on his clothes. He was arrested and charged with three counts of murder and two counts of rape. He will appear in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court soon," the statement read.

A similar tragedy was reported in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India, where a six-year-old girl and her mother were gang-raped in a running car by some miscreants who offered them a lift to their home.

The incident happened at around 10.30 p.m. on Friday, June 24, according to reports.

The mother-daughter duo was returning from Piran Kaliyar, a Muslim religious site in Haridwar's Roorkee, when one of the perpetrators, identified by the police as, Sonu, offered to drop them home.

A police officer, who wished not to be named, said the mother, who earns a livelihood by begging and lives in a shelter home, accepted the invitation because the individual was known to her. Some friends of the man were already in the vehicle.

The mother and daughter were raped inside the moving car and then dumped in an isolated area near the Ganga Canal stretch. The suspects then fled in the car, an officer said, requesting anonymity.

The mother, who was in shock, was unable to disclose the number of men who were in the vehicle but has identified the person driving the car as Sonu, police said.

The victims were taken to a nearby hospital for checkups and their medical reports confirmed they had been raped.

Based on a complaint from the mother of the girl, the police have registered a case under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.