THE SEARCH for the missing seven-year-old girl led to nothing . . .
Sangomas that were consulted pointed out the house of another sangoma, and it was there that the body of the child was found.
FURIOUS RESIDENTS DESTROYED THE WOMAN’S SHACK AND SHE WAS STRIPPED, BEATEN, STONED AND SET ON FIRE.
The horror story was set in motion on Tuesday last week when a seven-year-old child went missing in Intabazwe kasi near Harrismith, Free State.
The family and residents visited various sangomas and their enquiries led to the house of a local woman.
The attack came on Saturday morning.
A video taken at the scene shows the woman, stripped to her underwear, a tyre around her neck, pleading for her life.
Her hair is set alight and quickly burns but there does not appear to be petrol in the tyre. A huge rock thrown at her shoulder sends her crashing to the ground. Then a smaller stone strikes her head and blood streams from the side of her face.
The woman was later rescued by cops and taken to hospital for burn wounds.
A resident told Daily Sun they tried to help the family to find the girl.
“We patrolled the whole kasi without success. The family even consulted traditional healers, and some sangomas said the child was right in the kasi and pointed out the woman’s house.”
Another resident said: “After a sangoma pointed out a house, we blew a whistle and gathered at the woman’s house. Some residents rushed to the cop shop to ask for help but the cops didn’t arrive in time.”
That’s when the residents took the law into their own hands. They demolished the woman’s shack and allegedly found the body of the seven-year-old girl in the sangoma’s yard. Some of the community claimed body parts were missing.
Residents started beating up the woman and by the time the cops arrived, the shack had already been destroyed.
When cops tried to stop the residents, they turned against the cops and burnt their cars as well.
“They said the cops were useless because they tried to tell them about the matter but they were ignored,” said the resident.
Police spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Thandi Mbambo said: “Ten suspects were arrested following damage to two police vehicles which were set alight. This follows the discovery of the body of a seven-year-old girl that was reported missing. A sangoma pointed out another sangoma, whom the community tried to torch alive.
“She was saved by police. The suspects will be charged with attempted murder, arson, kidnapping and public violence and will appear in court soon.”
Mbambo said: “The body of the missing child was found with a wound to the head. No limbs were missing.”
