The man accused of storing female genitalia in his freezer in South Africa, told a Danish newspaper that the 21 pieces of mutilated flesh belong to his estranged wife.
The man, a Danish citizen living in South Africa, dismissed the accusations against him as “totally unfounded,” adding “it is my wife who keeps these kinds of things.”
“I have never ever committed anything criminal in South Africa,” the man told the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet. The man was interviewed on Monday, in a gun shop he owns in the city of Bloemfontein, while police collected evidence. Accompanied by uniformed police officers, in shackles and with a crowd jeering him outside, the 63-year-old man spoke to a video cameraman and made insisting gestures with his right hand.
The Danish newspaper has named the man, but The Associated Press has not named him because under South African law he should not be identified until he enters a plea.
South African police arrested the man last Thursday after they found nearly two dozen pieces of female genitalia in his freezer at his home in Bloemfontein, in the central Free State province. He has been charged with sexual assault, intimidation and breaking South Africa’s medical laws. He remains in police custody until his court appearance on Monday.
The man said that he and his wife split earlier this year and accused the woman of befriending witchdoctors.
“I have told her to come and fetch these things,” he said, referring to the mutilated genitalia, and adding “it is her fridge.” He further explained that he was allowed to photograph women being circumcised while visiting the remote mountainous regions of neighboring Lesotho.
Earlier this year, the man was arrested for assault in Lesotho, a police spokesman told the Associated Press. The man was arrested on June 18 after his wife laid the charges, said Senior Inspector Clifford Molefe, spokesman for the Lesotho police. He was released on the same day because he was ill, said Molefe. He has not yet appeared in a Lesotho court.
The man owns a second gun shop in Lesotho and regularly travels between Lesotho and South Africa, said Molefe.
Police have accused the man of keeping the genitalia as trophies. One of the specimens found was labelled with a woman’s name, the country Lesotho, and the year 2010, a police spokeswoman said. Police also found a cellphone video of a woman being mutilated, said the investigating officer, Warrant Officer Lynda Steyn. The woman in the video could not be identified, but seemed to be conscious, said Steyn. Police also found photographs of mutilated genitalia as well as a collection child pornography images.
It is not known if the body parts are from 21 different women. It is also not known how the man committed the assaults or if the victims are dead or alive. Police have asked women assaulted by the man to come forward.