A 30-year-old man is expected to appear before Benoni Magistrate Court on Monday, 17 October 2022, after he was charged with kidnapping and murder of the four-year-old Bokgabo Poo.
The little girl from Wattville was reported missing on Monday, 10 October 2022. Police were joined by the community in the search for the man who was last seen with Bokgabo.
On Tuesday, 11 October 2022, a leg of a child was discovered in a shallow grave inside a yard of a house in Tamboville.
Later in the afternoon, a mutilated body was discovered a few meters away from the house where the leg was found. At that time, the parents of Bokgabo could not identify the body as that of the missing girl.
A case of murder was opened and a team consisting of seasoned police officers from the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, Forensic Experts, Occult Related Crimes Unit and local detectives was formed to prioritise and investigate the case.
On Friday, 14 October 2022, the suspect was arrested in Boksburg North.
On Saturday, the family of Bokgabo positively identified the body as that of their missing daughter.
The Provincial Commissioner of the police in Gauteng, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, commended the police team and the community members for working together around the clock to search for the missing child and for the collection of evidence that led to the arrest of the suspect. The Provincial Commissioner conveys condolences to the parents and the family of Bokgabo Poo.
