A mother found out via social media that her missing teenage daughter had been murdered.
A man has since been arrested in connection with the brutal murder of 17-year-old Philippi resident Amahle Quku.
The girl’s naked body was discovered among long grass in Albert Luthuli Street in Brown’s Farm on Saturday.
She was found at around 7am after her mother Mantulele Quku, 47, and other residents went out to look for her when she failed to come home on Friday night.
HARTSEER: Mantulele Quku, 47
“I went to her friend’s place and she was not there. We then proceeded to go to her boyfriend’s place and I could not find my child,” says the heartbroken mom, crying.
She says as they searched, her phone kept going off with messages: “I found out via social media that my daughter is no more.
“I first saw a post saying ‘if there is someone looking for their daughter, they must go to the police station as there was a body found in the field’.
“More posts came in and I saw one with her naked body displayed, but when we rushed to the scene, the body was already removed.
“I am a strong person, but after seeing the picture of her body, something in me left, it felt like part of my soul left.
“All hope that I would find her alive vanished,” the mom of three cries.
GRIM FIND: Amahle Quku, 17, was found dead in Brown's Farm, Philippi
Eyewitnesses say three men were seen carrying the girl’s body to where she was found.
Police spokesman Colonel Andrè Traut confirmed an arrest has been made: “The exact cause of her death is yet to be
determined. Our investigation lead to the arrest of a man in his twenties who is detained for questioning regarding the
murder.”
On Sunday protests erupted in Philippi, with residents
barricading streets with rubble and burning tyres, calling for
justice not only for Amahle, but all murdered women, as South Africa is rocked by femicides.
GATVOL: Philippi residents protesting for justice. Video: Velani Ludidi
Mantulele says she is
selling umqombothi (beer) to feed her family: “Our policies have lapsed and I do not know how I will bury my child.”
Anyone who would like to assist with the funeral arrangements can contact Phumela on 083 5299 638
.