Police Superintendent Leckina Magagula said they suspect a mass killing of women has gone unnoticed for the past nine months. Swazi herdsboy, Hiaso Dlamini, last week stumbled on bones and reported to his uncle, who in turn reported the gruesome find to the police. Sniffer dogs led police unearth a decomposing corpse, then the skeleton of a child and, about five metres from the first child's remains, another. Across the road from the forest, the police discovered the four other skeletons. Then several more as the search continued.
Police suspect that the victims are from the rural areas.
They suspect that the women were raped before being killed because most did not have any clothes on, while others were only partially dressed. The police investigating team led by Senior Superintendent Khethokwakhe Ndlangamandla has so far questioned and released a number of suspects. To date 28 bodies have been discovered, only two of which have been claimed so far - that of a mother and her daughter. The others were found in too advanced a stage of decomposition to identify.