A 31-year-old man has been arrested on charges of premeditated murder in the death of 28-year-old Tshegofatso Pule.
Pule's body was found stabbed and hanging from a tree in a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, on June 8, as Blavity previously reported.
According to The New York Post, Mzikayise Malephane was arrested by South African police on Monday and had a court hearing Wednesday, where he declined to apply for bail and left the court in tears.
Investigators have yet to find a connection between Pule and Malephane.
Pule, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death, was last seen June 4 leaving her house in a cab to visit her boyfriend. She called her family later that night to tell them that she and her boyfriend had gotten into a fight and she was going to return home, per The Post.
“She got into a fight with her boyfriend and demanded to leave,” an unidentified relative told South African outlet Sowetan Live. “We tried calling her later that night but we couldn’t get through to her.”
Name all the Queens we have lost to Femicide, I will start:
1.Tshegofatso Pule 8 months, brutally stabbed and hung in a tree.#TshegofatsoPule
pic.twitter.com/82zd5VjM3S— Black Queen (@blackqueenrsa) June 10, 2020
According to the relative, Pule’s boyfriend was married to a woman who was aware of their affair.
“We cannot speculate about what led to her death, but we know things were not well with her boyfriend,” the relative said. “His wife also knew about Tshego and she was always fighting with her.”
Police officials said a local resident discovered Pule’s body riddled with stab wounds, hanging from a tree. Pule’s gruesome killing sparked the hashtag #JusticeForTshego, which has received an upswell of international support and attention.
On Saturday, President Cyril Ramaphosa released a statement rebuking “violent men” who are taking advantage of the country’s most at-risk populations during the coronavirus pandemic. He said the conditions of the lockdown have made it more dangerous for women and children, BBC reported.
"We note with disgust that at a time when the country is facing the gravest of threats from the [coronavirus] pandemic, violent men are taking advantage of the eased restrictions on movement to attack women and children," he said.
President Ramaphosa also urged members of the community to come forward with any information that might help Pule’s family get justice.
"Gender-based violence thrives in a climate of silence. With our silence, by looking the other way because we believe it is a personal or family matter, we become complicit in this most insidious of crimes," he said.
