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.
