A man accused of beating his girlfriend to death over the weekend has been found dead in a police cell in Khayelitsha, Cape Town.

The man, 39, was charged with the murder of the 36-year-old woman, who was beaten to death allegedly after an argument, Western Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa confirmed.

According to Potelwa, the man was arrested on Monday night, and was found dead in the holding cells on Tuesday afternoon.

The woman was killed on the same day that Amahle Quku, 17, was found murdered and naked in Brown's Farm, Philippi.

Leonard Mzingeli appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, where prosecutor Jarrod Seethal told magistrate Goolam Bawa that the accused had confessed to the murder of Quku.