A 45-year-old man arrested this Monday, October 7 is being prosecuted for the murders of 18 people in a killing that shocked South Africa, the South African prosecutor’s office announced this Wednesday. The occupants of two houses in a hamlet in the southeast of the country were shot dead on September 28 in what has since been called the “Massacre of Lusikisiki” by local media named after the surrounding area.
Some of those killed, among whom the South African press counted 15 women in total, were shot in the head. The suspect, a resident of a neighboring town, is also being prosecuted for possession of an illegal weapon, an AK47-type assault rifle.
Already convicted of murder, he was on parole. The Minister of Police had earlier announced the arrest of three men in connection with the killing without commenting on their direct involvement in the events. A country with one of the highest crime rates in the world, South Africa recorded nearly 6,200 murders between April and June, according to the latest statistics released by the police. Around two thirds of the murders committed remain unsolved due to lack of sufficient evidence or clues, according to official figures released in August.
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