South African farmers are said to have killed two women and fed them to pigs

JOHANNESBURG-

Content warning: This article contains descriptions of violence. Readers are asked to exercise discretion.

Three men in South Africa are accused of killing two women and feeding their bodies to pigs on their farm. The case has outraged the public.

The men appeared in court in the northern province of Limpopo on Tuesday. The state wants them to remain behind bars until the end of their trial.

The farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier, the supervisor Andrian Rudolph de Wet and the employee William Musora are accused of two counts of premeditated murder, one count of attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms. Musora, a Zimbabwean citizen, is also accused of being in the country illegally.

It is alleged that in August, a dairy truck dumped possibly expired goods on Olivier's farm, prompting women Locadia Ndlovu and Maria Makgatho to enter the premises and attempt to collect the products.

Both were shot dead. A man who was with them was injured and crawled to a nearby road to scream for help. He reported to police, who found the women's decomposing bodies in a pig pen.

Several political parties protested outside the Mankweng Magistrate's Court, demanding that the men be denied bail and given the harshest possible sentence. The South African Human Rights Commission urged the public not to take the law into their own hands in the pursuit of revenge.

Violent crime on South African farms has been a concern for years, including the murder of farmers by criminals and the mistreatment of workers by farmers.

The case will continue next month.