KING WILLIAM’S TOWN - Msobomvu police have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly murdering a 24-year-old woman, Eastern Cape police said on Sunday.

The woman was fatally stabbed in the early hours of Saturday morning, at about 2am, at Zingqayi village, Butterworth, Captain Jackson Manatha said.

"The deceased was stabbed on her upper body and died instantly. The suspect ran away after the alleged murder. He was traced and arrested. The motive for the murder is not clear at this point in time. It is also not so clear if the deceased was fatally stabbed at her home. The relationship between the two is not known."

The suspect would appear in the Butterworth Magistrate's Court on Monday on a murder charge, Manatha said.

Eastern Cape police commissioner Lt-Gen Liziwe Ntshinga condemned the murder of a young defenceless woman. She vowed that police would do everything in their power to bring the perpetrators of violence against women and children to book.