Picture: The police tape in the veld/Generic
By OBAKENG MAJE
Two elderly women aged 80 and 59 were found murdered in the veld, near a maize field in Manokwane village, Taung on Friday. It is alleged that, on Thursday, two women went to the veld to fetch the firewood, but failed to return home in the evening.
The community members embarked on a search and discovered their lifeless bodies that were badly assaulted at around 1:30am in the early hours of the morning on Friday.
There is a suspicion that the deceased persons might have also been raped before they were killed. However, the North West police spokesperson, Col Adele Myburgh said they cannot rule that out, but that can only be determined during the autopsy process.
“The deceased persons were found at around 1:30am by somebody and the police were called. At this stage, the cause of death will only be determined by the post-mortem. We cannot confirm if the deceased persons were raped or not because that could only be determined by post-mortem too,” said Myburgh.
Meanwhile, on 15 June 2023, South Africa was part of the global community in celebrating World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
The ww.gov.za website said: “Elder abuse can be defined as a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person.
“Elder abuse can take various forms such as physical, psychological or emotional, sexual and financial abuse. It can also be the result of intentional or unintentional neglect.”
The website continues by saying that, in many parts of the world, elder abuse occurs with little recognition or response. It says, until recently, this serious social problem was hidden from the public view and considered mostly a private matter.
“Even today, elder abuse continues to be a taboo, mostly underestimated and ignored by societies across the world. Evidence is accumulating, however, to indicate that elder abuse is an important public health and societal problem.”
The Guardian 