SOUTH AFRICA – A 23-year-old man accused of breaking into the home of an elderly woman and chopping to death the 88-year-old and her daughter is behind bars in Limpopo.

Maano Maphula made his first appearance in the Thohoyandou magistrate’s court on Wednesday, facing two counts of murder and housebreaking with intent to murder.

“It is alleged that on Sunday August 16 the accused broke into the house of the 88-year-old woman who lived with her 54-year-old daughter at Lunungwi village in Vhembe district,” said Limpopo National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi. “It is alleged that the accused chopped the two women with an unknown object and left their dead bodies in a pool of blood.”

Maphula was arrested on Tuesday. He did not apply for bail and the case was remanded to November 20.

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