Cops arrest man alleged to have torched and killed girlfriend

The man alleged to have doused his girlfriend with petrol and set alight her in Atteridgeville at the weekend has been arrested‚ said Gauteng police.

The 41-year-old was nabbed in Limpopo in the early hours of Friday morning‚ said Lieutenant-Colonel Kay Makhubela.

"He was on the run after he allegedly set alight his girlfriend‚ aged 38-years-old‚ in an Atteridgeville informal settlement on Sunday. She later died in hospital‚" said Makhubela.

The arrest came following a tip-off from community members.

On Monday‚ just hours after the woman‚ Lyzah Seroka‚ had died from her injuries at the Kalafong Hospital‚ her brother told TimesLIVE that the accused had called his mother‚ begging for forgiveness for his actions.

"My mom just hung up the phone on him‚" said Karabo Seroka. He was still traumatised following news of his sister's death.

Seroka‚ who lived in a shack next to his sister and her boyfriend‚ detailed how he heard her screaming just after midnight on Sunday.

He ran to her shack where he found her in a ball of flame.

After rushing his pregnant cousin out of his sister's shack‚ Seroka ran back into the house where he tried to rip the burning clothes from his sister's body‚ injuring his fingers in the process.

"As I carried her out‚ she kept saying: 'Look how he has rewarded me for staying 17 years with him. Look what he’s done to me. He has taken my beauty away‚'" Karabo said‚ staring into the distance as though reliving that very moment.

TimesLIVE attempted to contact Karabo‚ following news that his sister's alleged killer had been arrested on Wednesday.

His girlfriend answered the phone‚ saying Karabo was heading to Limpopo to prepare for the funeral. "We had not heard that he was arrested‚" said his girlfriend.

Karabo‚ who is unemployed‚ had told TimesLIVE that the little savings he had would now go towards burying his sister and taking care of her children.

“I was saving that money to try and pay a little lobola for my girlfriend at the end of the year but this has changed things. After this all happened‚ I told her that from now on‚ I have two children. I have to take care of them‚” he said.