Man arrested for murder of sibling girls
A local pastor and his nephew were falsely accused as the ones responsible for the siblings’ demise. The community had burned the two men to death and torched their houses in an apparent act of vigilantism.
A 22-year-old man believed to be responsible for the murder of two young girls, was arrested on May 28.
The suspect, Tshepiso Mokoena, is also believed to be responsible for the murder of Khensani Sambo for which he appeared in the KaBokweni Magistrate’s Court.
In a press release, provincial police spokesman, Col Mtsholi Bhembe, said the girls’ bodies were found in a ditch on April 24. They were six and seven years old.
According to the press release, the two girls had last been seen the previous day, April 23, playing near their parental home. Contrary to popular belief by some community members at the time that some body parts were missing, no single body part was found to be missing except for the fact that the younger girl had allegedly been raped.
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A sangoma was then reportedly consulted by members of the community, who in turn falsely accused two men, a local pastor and his nephew, as the ones responsible for the siblings’ demise. After the consultation, the community burned the two men to death and torched their houses as well in an apparent act of vigilantism.
The press release stated that the suspect, who is reportedly related to the young girls, claimed that he had taken the two victims and handed them over to other people, however, police investigation is under way to validate those claims.
“Essentially if the information by the suspect is found to be true after verification, then that means the pastor and his nephew, aged 36 and 24, were killed for no apparent reason at all,” the press release said.
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The Provincial Commissioner, Lt Genl Mondli Zuma, once again condemned acts of vigilantism by members of the community as they have the potential of having innocent people falling victim to the uncontrollable ire of the community.
“We have always maintained that mob justice, also known as vigilantism, is not only illegal, but inherently has the potential of having innocent people suffering the brunt of the community and usually end up being killed,” said Zuma.
He is in custody and will appear again on June 5.
Anyone with information that may assist police in their investigation is urged to contact Capt Timothy Mushwana on 082-449-0223 or the SAPS Crime Stop number, 08600-10111.
