Case against East London man accused of chopping lover’s body postponed

The East London Magistrate’s Court on Monday postponed the case against 25-year-old Alutha Pasile to 28 September.

Pasile made a brief appearance at the East London Magistrate’s Court on charges of murder and defeating the ends of justice.

The charges follow the gruesome murder of a 23-year-old University of Fort Hare student, Nosicelo Mtebeni.

According to the National Prosecuting Unit (NPA), Mtebeni’s body was discovered last week by a 36-year-old man who overheard two school girls complaining about the behaviour of East London community members.

“The man then approached the girls as he wanted to find out what they were talking about. They then told him that there were two bags at a nearby garbage dumping site which contained human body parts. He then went to inspect and once he saw the gruesome site he then alerted police who were patrolling the area,” said the NPA in a statement.

A police investigation led them to a witness who allegedly saw Pasile at about 5am leaving his residence with a purple suitcase and a grey-black bag.

This account fitted the description of the two bags which were found at the dumping site. Pasile was arrested on the same day.

Pasile and Mtebeni were lovers and lived together in Quigney, East London.

Pasile declined to apply for bail.