Man arrested after body of 14-year-old 'girlfriend' found buried 'under huge pile of rocks'

A 26-year-old man was arrested for the murder of his 14-year-old “girlfriend” after the Free State teen’s body was found under a “huge pile of rocks” on Thursday.

Edwinah Bolosha was allegedly last seen by her uncle five days before he reported her missing.

According to police, her uncle last saw her at 8pm on October 10 when she left to go and sleep over at a friend’s house. At 6pm on October 15 he went to the Tumahole police station to report Edwinah missing.

A search was then launched.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased was last seen with her boyfriend. Information was followed and Edwinah's body was discovered in an open veld covered in a huge pile of rocks, about 1km away from her home,” said Free State police spokesperson Brig Motantsi Makhele.

“A case of murder was registered and the boyfriend arrested. A postmortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death,” he said.

Edwinah’s uncle told the police that he did not report her missing earlier because it was not the first time she had stayed away from home “for days without informing anyone of her whereabouts”.

Free State police commissioner Lt-Gen Baile Motswenyane urged parents and guardians not to disregard the disappearance of their children. She said similar incidents were reported in the province where children, mostly girls, were reported missing and found dead.

“In other instances they returned home safely but we can't take chances where our children are involved,” she said.

The 26-year-old is expected to appear in the Parys magistrate's court on Monday for the murder.

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