A woman who was eight months pregnant has been found stabbed to death and hanged from a tree in South Africa.
Tshegofatso Pule, 28, went missing on Thursday last week after arguing with her boyfriend at his apartment on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
But her family say she never came home and after four days of searching a member of the public found her body hanging from a tree on Monday.
Police say she had been stabbed once through the left breast, and have launched a murder investigation.
A relative told the Sowetan that Pule had left her family’s house on Thursday to go and see her boyfriend, who lives roughly a 15 minute drive away.
But she then got into an argument with her boyfriend, and told her relatives that she was getting an Uber cab home.
Police say she was last seen on CCTV getting into that cab, before vanishing.
Her family say she never arrived home, and stopped answering her phone. Her boyfriend also stopped picking up his phone.
After two days without a response, the family launched an appeal to find her and began putting up missing posters in the local area.
A member of the public then made contact on Monday to say he had seen her, before leading the family to the body.
The killing has sparked outrage on social media, with the hashtag ‘justicefortshego’ trending as the news spread.
Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South Africa’s minister for women, subsequently called the killing a ‘shame’ on society.
‘We should never allow gender-based violence to become a norm in our communities,’ she said.
‘How many more women, young girls and children must live with this constant fear of being attacked and violated?
‘Women should not have to protect themselves from men. They have the right to feel safe.’
She pledge to leave ‘no stone unturned’ in the search for the killer, though police say they have not yet identified a suspect.
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