The man who locked his girlfriend inside a room and burnt her alive along with their child was finally arrested on Friday. The man was arrested in Thembisa where it is alleged that the man had changed his identity in order to avoid being arrested.

Two weeks ago, the police in Gauteng launched a manhunt of Lerato Sefekedi, who allegedly doused his partner and child with petrol. One of his children managed to survive the ordeal after it emerged that the child locked herself inside her room when Sefekedi tried to force her to come out of her room so that he can doused her with petrol along with her mother and sibling. Sefekedi allegedly doused his partner's house with petrol and set it alight after an argument. Police in Gauteng said they were looking for information regarding the whereabouts of a man who set alight the house of his partner, killing her and her son. The accused is facing charges of double murder and arson. According to Gauteng police spokesperson, Colonel Dimakatso Sello, Sandra Mabaso and her son were murdered last year. "It is alleged that on Saturday, 27 August 2022, a 44-year-old woman together with her six-year-old son were set alight by her partner," said Sello at the time. 

Sefekedi then fled the scene and has been on the run ever since. Mabaso was declared dead on the scene and her son, with severe burn wounds, was rushed to the hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries. Gauteng SAPS spokesperson Colonel Noxolo Kweza confirmed the incident. "Gauteng police have arrested a suspect in connection with a murder of a woman and her child who were found in a burnt down house in Soweto two years ago. The incident happened in Protea Glen. The suspect was arrested in Tembisa on Friday and is charged with two counts of murder and arson. He has since appeared in Protea Magistrates Court. He has been remanded in custody without bail for further investigation," she said.