Free State police spokesperson, Motantsi Makhele, says the first of the two additional arrests is that of a 34-year-old woman who was taken into police custody for questioning on Wednesday - two days after the Mmantshebo Primary School learner was snatched from the school premises in Thabong. She has since been added to the list of suspects. 

The other is a 44-year-old woman who was arrested on Thursday, the same day that Shabe’s body was found in Riebeeckstad. The two ladies and a 46-year-old man will appear before the Welkom Magistrate’s Court on Monday 28 June. Makhele explains that it was the 46-year-old man who took police to Shabe’s body.

After being questioned, the middle-aged man “led the team to the scene in Riebeeckstad, Welkom, where the body was found wrapped in a duvet cover in an open field. She was still wearing her school uniform. A case of murder was opened for further investigation”.

The little girl was kidnapped from her school in Thabong on Monday 21 June 2021, at 13:30 by an unknown woman. Her abductors made calls to her grandmother, demanding a R50 000 ransom in exchange for her safe return.

Free State Provincial Police Commissioner, Baile Motswenyane, expressed her condolences to the family of the 8-year-old. Additional details around the incident are yet to be unveiled at this stage.

Meanwhile, another Thabong girl, 13-year-old, Nthabiseng Molete is still missing. The tween was last seen by her mother Pulane Molete on 12 June at 18:00, leaving their home. It’s alleged the 13-year-old, who was dressed in a black pair of pants, yellow jacket, and black grasshopper shoes, was accustomed to sleeping over at one of her friends’ houses and it was assumed that she would return.

OFM News