A woman, 28 and a girl child, 13 were found dead and dumped next to a river in KwaDabeka, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa on Tuesday morning, local publications report.

At around 6:30 on Tuesday morning, a member of the public approached the Community Service Centre (CSC) to report that he had seen a body on the corner of Lwandle Road and Dudu Ngcobo Road in KwaDabeka, The South African reports.

CSC members responded and found the bodies of two females next to the road in the bushes.

“It was the body of an adult female approximately 28-year-old and a female child approximately 13-years-old,” SAPS Colonel Thembeka Mbele.

According to Mbele, police made a horrific discovery as the adult female was halfway inside a black suitcase, while the child was lying next to her.

“Both had several injuries all over the body. The adult female had an open wound on the back of her head and also stab wounds,” said Mbele.

The woman was half-naked with just a top on and the child was dressed in a white top and denim shorts.

According to Mbele, both females had been strangled and were found with the rope still around their necks. It also appeared as though the bodies [were] dumped in KwaDabeka as there was not much blood on the scene.

“Motive and suspects are unknown. There are no witnesses and the community did not know anything,” said Mbele.

Both bodies were recovered and taken to Pinetown mortuary and scraping of the victims’ nails and possible rape identification were requested.

Just last week, two women were found in bushes with gunshot wounds to the head in KwaMashu, KwaZulu-Natal.

According to South African Police Service (SAPS) Captain Nqobile Gwala, charges of murder were opened for investigation at KwaMashu SAPS.