Aleyka Shaik.
Image: Supplied
ALEYKA Shaik, a 34-year-old pregnant nurse, was killed in Pietermaritzburg while picking up her daughter on Sunday evening.
Shaik, who was pregnant with twins, was attacked while fetching her seven-year-old daughter.
Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed the arrest of a suspect.
“Police in Mountain Rise have arrested a 39-year-old man. Reports indicate that the victim and the suspect had an argument which resulted in the suspect stabbing her,” he said.
He will appear in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court tomorrow.
According to reports, the incident took place in the Northdale area shortly after 6pm.
It has been alleged that Shaik was placing her child into a vehicle outside the home of the suspect’s relative, when she was stabbed.
Pietermaritzburg PR Councillor, Shamiell Ally, who knew Shaik since 2017, said: “I got a call telling me that Aleyka had been stabbed. I was shocked and devastated. I went to the scene and it was heartbreaking to see such a beautiful soul die in such a brutal manner.”
Ally said he met her in 2017, when her father started working as a dispatcher for the municipality.
“She was an only child and a devoted daughter who dropped and picked up her father every day from work. She took the utmost care of her elderly parents. Her death was absolutely senseless. It was not easy to see her stabbed to death, pregnant and lying on the ground. She went to pick up her daughter when she was attacked.
“When we councillors heard the accused was on the run after stabbing her, we got into our cars to try and track him down. Luckily he was caught. The violence against women in our country is getting out of hand. Now her daughter is an orphan. Aleyka was a super mum,” said Ally.