Seventeen-year-old Sharuney Harvey was found dead at her boyfriend’s home, just days before she was due to celebrate her 18th birthday.
Harvey had reportedly planned to celebrate her birthday on Wednesday, but instead her family is now preparing to lay her to rest.
According to her family, Harvey and her boyfriend visited her father and stepmother on Saturday. Her father was reportedly not at home when they arrived, and an argument allegedly broke out between Harvey and her stepmother.
The boyfriend told the family that after the argument, he took Harvey to his home, where she spent the night.
Later that evening, Harvey was found dead lying on a bed at the boyfriend’s home.
Police confirmed that a murder investigation was opened after officers responded to the scene in Kliplokasie on Volmoed farm near Oudtshoorn at about 9.40pm. Harvey was found with head injuries and was declared dead at the scene.
Her aunt, Angelina Botha, said the family was later informed that an autopsy had found that Harvey had been struck multiple times on the head with a blunt object. The family was also told that markings on her neck indicated that she had been strangled.
A 26-year-old man was arrested in connection with the murder and was expected to appear in the Oudtshoorn Magistrates’ Court.
The family said Harvey was a loving and gentle young woman and described her death, just before her 18th birthday, as devastating.
“She was such a beautiful person with a gentle heart. We cannot believe that she was taken from us in this brutal way.”
The family is now raising funds towards her funeral, while a memorial service is expected to be held at the Volmoed farm where she lived.
The circumstances surrounding Harvey’s death remain under investigation. The allegations against those questioned or arrested have not been tested in court.
