In South Africa, a policewoman is suspected of killing six people to collect on their life insurance policies. The 43-year-old is said to have known her victims personally; most of them were physically or mentally disabled.
Rachel Kutumela, 43, appeared before a magistrate in Polokwane, 300 kilometers northeast of Johannesburg, on Friday, wearing a hood low over her face and a face mask. Police accuse her of six murders and insurance fraud.
The suspected policewoman in court:
Police officer took out insurance on behalf of the victims
Kutumela was arrested at a police station in the small town of Senwabarwana on Thursday. She is said to have collected at least ten million rand (520,000 euros) from life and death insurance policies she had previously taken out on behalf of her victims. “Her victims were known to her and came from destitute and disadvantaged backgrounds. Some were physically or mentally disabled,” police said.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, she is said to have committed the first murder in 2019. The bodies of their victims were found in different places: a disabled man was found dead on a dam, a woman burned in a hut. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for October 18. According to the Public Prosecution Service, further arrests are expected.
A similar case a few years ago
Three years ago, a similar case made headlines in South Africa: Former police officer Rosemary Ndlovu was sentenced to life in prison in 2021 for murdering her boyfriend and five family members in order to collect their insurance.
Source: Krone
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