ANGRY community members have bayed for the blood of a 39-year-old man who was arrested after the decomposed body of his girlfriend was exhumed from a shallow grave behind a shanty in Ivory Park.
The body of the woman, who was reported missing on June 7, was found behind a shanty in Block A, Ivory Park, on Thursday morning.
Police spokesperson Captain Olebogeng Tawana confirmed that a man, believed to be the deceased’s boyfriend, was arrested on Thursday. He is expected to appear in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court soon on a charge of murder.
A group of angry women from the community descended on the suspect’s shack on Thursday, attempting to tear it down and then eventually setting it alight as the police van sped away with the suspect inside.
The community’s anger was further fuelled by the actions of the suspect, who had shouted and swore at them from inside the back of the police van.
It is believed that the grave was revealed by two boys, who the suspect allegedly kidnapped and tortured in a nearby veld for hours on Wednesday.
According to residents in the area, the two boys, aged 12 and 13, were allegedly threatened by the suspect that he would kill and bury them in his yard, just as he had done with the deceased.
One of the boys was taken away by the police while the other, who was shaking and traumatised, was left to witness the community’s anger towards the suspect.
The boy, whose mouth was swollen and showed remnants of glue, shared his traumatic experience with community members.
He said the suspect accused him of tarnishing his image and spread glue on his mouth to “keep him quiet”.
“I was looking for my younger sister when he called me in the direction of the veld. When I arrived he told me to reach for some nearby faeces and forced me to eat it while he was watching. He was singing, laughing and smoking glue, which he smeared on my mouth afterwards,” said the boy.
“He then instructed my friend to untie his shoelaces and told my friend to tie me up. My mouth was also tied closed with pantihose. He then told my friend to leave with him,” added the boy, before begging his mother to take him home.
The boy said he managed to untie himself and fled home where he was too scared to tell his mother about what happened, stating that the suspect had threatened to kill his older brother too if he talked.
The boy’s mother said that her child only started to talk about the ordeal once his friend, who also apparently managed to flee from the suspect, arrived.
She said they then called the police, who started investigating the matter and searching the yard of the suspect.
She added that her son needed counselling as he was extremely traumatised.
“I want the suspect to rot in jail for what he has done. Who knows what damage he has done when he forced my child to eat faeces,” said the angry mother.
According to the suspect’s neighbours, they were shocked to hear about what had happened and waited throughout the night for the police to exhume the body.
The community labelled the suspect as a bully and said that he had terrorised the community for years.
Several women came forward and shared their traumatic experiences about how they were “terrorised” by the suspect, who allegedly threatened to kill them if they said anything, while at least one woman accused him of rape.
The woman alleged that she had been forced to strip naked before being raped at a nearby soccer field. She added that she was threatened that her tongue would be cut out if she breathed a word about the alleged incident.
The police confirmed yesterday that the woman whose body was exhumed was reported missing more than a month ago.
“An intensified police investigation and search resulted in the discovery of the decomposed body buried in a shallow grave just behind a shanty in Block A, Ivory Park, Roodepan,” Tawana said.
“A 39-year-old man, who is believed to be the deceased’s boyfriend, was arrested on Thursday morning. He is expected to appear before the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court soon, facing a charge of murder.”
