South African police said today they arrested four men in the murder of a farm worker who officers say was thrown into a lion enclosure to be eaten.
Police spokeswoman Ms Ronel Otto said a white farmer and three of his black labourers severely assaulted black farm worker Mr Nelson Shisane and then threw him over a fence into a lion enclosure, where police say he was mauled and eaten.
"Following the assault, it is alleged that Mr Shisane was tied up, loaded onto a vehicle and transported 10 miles... to the Mokwalo White Lion Project, where he was thrown over the fence into a lion enclosure," Ms Otto said.
Police investigators found a human skull and parts of the victim's leg in the lion enclosure. Ms Otto said the lion farm owner had no idea about what had taken place on his property.
Police believe Mr Shisane was a former employee of the white farmer and that the incident occurred between January 31st and February 2nd in South Africa's northern Limpopo province near the famed Kruger National Park.
The incident could inflame smouldering racial tensions in the South African countryside, where some white farmers are often accused of mistreating their black workers, but are also victims of violent crime. Hundreds have been murdered since the end of white rule in 1994.
The four suspects were to appear in court this morning.