LIMPOPO, South Africa — A white South African farm worker, who is one of three men on trial for allegedly murdering two black women on a farm in 2024, claims he was forced to feed their bodies to pigs, according to a BBC news report citing his lawyers.

Adrian de Wet, 20, turned state witness when the trial started on Monday and told the court that farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier shot and killed Maria Makgato, 45, and Lucia Ndlovu, 34.

Makgato and Ndlovu were said to be searching for soon-to-expire dairy products, left for pigs, on the farm in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province last year, when they were killed.

Their bodies were then alleged to have been given to pigs in an apparent attempt to dispose of the evidence, the report says.

De Wet , a supervisor on the farm, is expected to testify that he was under duress when he was forced to throw their bodies into the pig enclosure, it adds, citing the prosecution and his lawyer.

If his testimony is accepted, he will be freed of the charges in the case, which has sparked outrage across the racially tense country.

The report pointed to especially high tensions in rural South Africa where the majority of private farmland remains in the hands of the white minority, while most farm workers are black and poorly paid.

The third accused is William Musora, 50, another farm worker.

Olivier and Musora have yet to plead in the case and remain behind bars.

The report says the three men also have an attempted murder charge for shooting at Ndlovu’s husband, plus charges for possession of an unlicensed firearm and obstructing justice for allegedly dumping the bodies in the pig enclosure.

The trial continues next week.