adminJohannesburg — The wife of a Danish man arrested for having 21 packages with parts of women’s clitorises in his freezer was believed to have also been a victim, the Hawks said on Sunday. Warrant Officer Linda Steyn told News24 the woman had reported the matter in February before going to Lesotho to visit her sister.
It was believed the wife became a victim prior to her leaving.
“She came back to South Africa this month and she reported it again . . . on the 16th [of September] she came back to Bloemfontein to fetch her children and that’s when she reported it at the Bloemfontein child and family care office,” Steyn said.
The Hawks became aware of the matter the next day.
The woman is a Lesotho citizen, and it’s believed she was unaware of her husband’s activities.
The 21 packets contained the private parts of seven women, with frozen sanitary pads also found in the same freezer.
“They were all placed together,” Steyn said.
On Saturday, Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi said the wife had fled to Lesotho, leaving the two children behind.
Mulaudzi said the woman had assisted the police in providing information about her husband, shortly after his arrest.
When she was given the offer to be taken into witness protection, she refused, he said.
Her children, a boy and girl aged 2 and 4, were now in the care of officials from the Social Development Department, Mulaudzi said.
The man was arrested yesterday and charged with sexual assault as well as crimes under sections of the Medicines Act.
At the time, Steyn said police were appealing to women who may have been among his victims to come forward ahead of the man’s bail application yesterday.
They had, however, not ruled out the possibility that the man may have conducted voluntary female genital mutilation.
The man may not be named until he has pleaded to the sexual assault charge, but police have so far established that he was fined R2,500 for illegal possession of an elephant tusk in February.
Police said they were told of a man who had photographs of women having their genitals cut and visited his Langenhoven Park, Bloemfontein, house.
During the arrest, police confiscated the man’s cellphone and found more photographs, surgical equipment, and the clitorises bagged in the freezer — AFP
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