The wife of a Danish man who was caught in South Africa last month with 21 pieces of female genitalia in his freezer has been killed in Lesotho, police said Thursday.
The Lesotho national and a key witness in the case against her husband, was shot on Tuesday outside her home in the capital Maseru.
Her 58-year-old husband, who owned a gun shop, was arrested last month in the South African city of Bloemfontein, and is due to appear in court on November 4 to face charges of sexual assault.
He has been held in custody since his last court hearing earlier this month.
Anaesthetic drugs and surgical equipment were found in his house along with the female genitalia.
Lesotho police told AFP that she was gunned down as she went to call a taxi.
"We are not in a position to confirm or deny that [she] might have been killed in an organised hit as this would jeopardise our investigations,” Lesotho police spokesman Clifford Molefe said.
The accused Danish man allegedly sedated his victims before performing illegal operations, the South African police said in a statement in September.
Under South African law, alleged sex offenders cannot be named until they have entered a plea in court.
His wife was allegedly one of his victims, most of whom the police say came from Lesotho, a small mountainous kingdom surrounded by South Africa.
"We did offer her protection, but she refused," South African police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi told AFP.
"She was a key witness, but we still have other witnesses who will come forward."
No arrests have been made over her death.
The wife of a Danish man who was caught in South Africa last month with 21 pieces of female genitalia in his freezer has been killed in Lesotho, police said Thursday.
The Lesotho national and a key witness in the case against her husband, was shot on Tuesday outside her home in the capital Maseru.
Her 58-year-old husband, who owned a gun shop, was arrested last month in the South African city of Bloemfontein, and is due to appear in court on November 4 to face charges of sexual assault.
He has been held in custody since his last court hearing earlier this month.
Anaesthetic drugs and surgical equipment were found in his house along with the female genitalia.
Lesotho police told AFP that she was gunned down as she went to call a taxi.
“We are not in a position to confirm or deny that [she] might have been killed in an organised hit as this would jeopardise our investigations,” Lesotho police spokesman Clifford Molefe said.
The accused Danish man allegedly sedated his victims before performing illegal operations, the South African police said in a statement in September.
Under South African law, alleged sex offenders cannot be named until they have entered a plea in court.
His wife was allegedly one of his victims, most of whom the police say came from Lesotho, a small mountainous kingdom surrounded by South Africa.
“We did offer her protection, but she refused,” South African police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi told AFP.
“She was a key witness, but we still have other witnesses who will come forward.”
No arrests have been made over her death.
