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The 31-year-old pregnant nurse, whose lifeless body was found by a tourist who was taking pictures of birds at Oribi Gorge near Port Shepstone, would have given birth to a baby girl in December, the KwaZulu-Natal health department has revealed.
Nelisa "Mu" Cele's body was found last Friday, covered in cloth and stuck on tree branches near an embankment.
ALSO READ: Birds lead tourist to body of pregnant KZN nurse
Cele went missing on Wednesday, September 5, when she was off duty to take delivery of a new car, according to the department.
"When the post-mortem was done, they found a baby girl who was lifeless. You then have even more anger and pain. Why would a person kill another, who already has a soul to save? We are affected as the Department of Health, because a large number of our staff members are females," said provincial Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo.
He was speaking during Cele's memorial service in her neighbourhood of Gamalakhe, near Port Shepstone, on Thursday.
Extensive internal bleeding
"We want to give our condolence to Gamalakhe CHC (Community Health Centre) and to the Cele family. We would like to thank the police for the work that they’ve done and wish to urge them to find the perpetrators of this callous act," he said.
Mourners at her memorial service gasped in shock as details of her post-mortem emerged, including that she was struck with a blunt object on the head and suffered extensive internal bleeding, according to the department.
Cele would have turned 32 next Monday, the department said.
She is survived by a 13-year-old son, four siblings and her parents. She will be buried in Gamalakhe township on Saturday.
Provincial police confirmed that a murder docket was being investigated by Paddock police.
The matter was still under investigation and no arrest has been made, police said on Friday.
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