Arrests made throughout Brazil on May 28, 2019 included 56 people suspected of murder in an act of domestic violence or as part of gender-based discriminationAFP/File
Brazilian police carried out a giant anti-murder operation in nearly every state of the country Tuesday, arresting 968 suspects in one day, according to the National Council of Civilian Police Chiefs.
The arrests included 56 people suspected of killing someone in an act of domestic violence or of gender-based discrimination.
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The efforts were phase two of the unusually large so-called Operation Cronos. In each state, police shared real-time updates of their work on social media, including photos and videos.
"By imprisoning murderers, we hope to prevent future crimes," Civil Police tweeted in the northern state of Para.
During Operation Cronos's first phase in August, police arrested nearly 3,000 people accused of murder, gender-based killings and domestic violence, among other crimes.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, part of the Organization of American States, expressed in early February "deep concern" over gender-based violence in Brazil, noting that at least 126 women had already been killed in gender-based violence in the country so far this year.
Presiding judge Peet Johnson labelled Mantsoe an unreliable witness who fabricated evidence and was involved in a web of lies in a bid to sway the murder trial his way.
How bad is gender-based violence in South Africa?
The term "gender-based violence" refers to violence that targets groups or individuals on the basis of their gender.
Almost a third of all women in the world who have been in a relationship have experienced physical or sexual violence by their intimate partner, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The 28-year-old denied killing Ms Mokoena but during his bail hearing, he claimed he had disposed of her body after coming home and finding that she had committed suicide by stabbing herself.
Her charred remains were found buried in a shallow grave in a deserted field in Johannesburg after her family filed a missing person's report in April last year.
She had been assaulted, doused with acid and then set alight.
Police said the accused had confessed to the murder as part of a ritual which would allow his business to prosper.
The family of the woman who was killed by Mantsoe has welcomed the guilty verdict, but have questioned his mental state because he showed no remorse during the trial, the BBC's Nomsa Maseko reports.
Speaking to reporters inside the courtroom, Mantsoe maintained his innocence saying the only thing he was guilty of was "trying to be a positive influence in her life".
South Africans are discussing the verdict on social media with the names of the victim and the killer the top trends on Twitter.
The judge's verdict comes a day after Zolile Khumalo, a female student from Durban's Mangosuthu University of Technology, was shot dead in her dormitory.
The male suspect, a 23-year-old graduate of the university, was arrested at the scene of the shooting.
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