A pensioner was strangled to death over a microwave oven.
Neighbours found Zuleikha Chopdat’s body on the bedroom floor of her flat in the Lenasia CBD a week ago.
A scarf was wrapped around the 81-year-old’s neck. Her hands and legs were bound with rope.
A suspect, 22, was arrested and charged with murder and robbery. He appeared in the Lenasia Magistrate’s Court on Monday and was remanded in police custody. The case was adjourned to Monday.
Captain Hector Netshivhatza, a police spokesperson, said Chopdat’s neighbours became suspicious when she did not answer their calls.
“Her front door was slightly open. When they walked into the flat, they noticed it had been ransacked. She was found in her bedroom.”
The neighbours alerted the police.
“We received information that a suspect was seen with her microwave, and through crime intelligence, we managed to track him down and arrest him.”
A relative, who declined to be named, said Chopdat was unmarried and did not have children.
“Despite this, she was a mother to many youths in the neighbourhood. Zuleikha loved her independence and opted to live alone.
“Family members would often stop by to check on her. Knowing that someone deliberately came to her home, not only to steal from her but to kill her, has filled us with sadness and pain.”
In October Phoenix pensioner Chandraka Singh, 68, of Rydalvale, who lived alone was assaulted and succumbed to his injuries.
Singh’s hands and feet were bound with an extension cord.
The grandfather of four sustained a cut to the mouth, cuts to both his ankles, a broken rib, and injuries to his body.
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