COPS INVESTIGATING GANG- RAPE, MURDER OF 6 WOMEN

MANZINI – The police in the Shiselweni Region are currently investigating cases of suspected serial rapists and murderers who allegedly robbed, gang-raped and murdered six women.

This comes after one of the alleged suspects of Nsalitje, was attacked by community police and residents of the area. The attack took place during the wee hours of Saturday and the alleged suspect is said to have confessed to being part of a group who robbed, gang-raped and murdered a total of six women from the area and surrounding communities. This is said to have allegedly happened over an unmentioned period of time.

Nsalitje is located along the country’s borderline and separates a portion of the southern part of the country and South Africa. It is about 70 kilometres from Nhlangano Town.

A source close to the matter said due to the high level of stock theft cases in the area, the community members formed a group to fight this scourge and they named it ‘Juluka tsotsi’. He alleged that on new year’s eve, a group of robbers which targeted women who used an illegal crossing point along the borderline at Nsalitje, attempted to rob a woman, but she managed to slip and ran away unharmed.

He said upon arrival at her parental home in the area, the woman, who was from Pongola, South Africa, told her family members about what she encountered on her way back home. She is said to have revealed one of the suspects believed to have been behind her attack.
The suspect in question is the one who was later apprehended by members of the community and severely assaulted.
Prior to the assault of the suspect, the source said the information obtained from the attacked woman was circulated among the community members, mainly those who are part of ‘Juluka tsotsi’.

He said last Friday night, the community members got a tip-off that the suspect was at his parental home and they rounded him up.

Dragged

“They dragged him out of the house while assaulting him with sjamboks, knobkerries, open hands and fists,” the source alleged.
He stated that as they assaulted him, he allegedly confessed that he and his accomplices had been robbing people, especially women who were using the illegal crossing point at Nsalitje to gain entry to the country.

According to the source, a number of people from the area and surroundings were employed in Pongola, South Arica and most of them used the illegal crossing point to exit and enter the country.

The source alleged that the suspect is said to have confessed that he and his gang had allegedly robbed a countless number of women around the illegal crossing point at Nsalitje.

“He alleged that they raped and killed six of the women they had robbed because it turned out they knew them and had recognised their faces. In that regard, he claimed that they feared that they would report them to the police if they let them go after robbing them,” the source alleged.
After making the confession, the source claimed that the suspect was dragged to the illegal crossing point, where they were allegedly robbing people.
He alleged that along the way, they assaulted the alleged suspect.

From there, the source alleged that the suspect led the community members to the spot, in a nearby bush, where he allegedly told them that it was where they gang-raped and killed the six women. After allegedly killing them, the source alleged that the man told the community members that they would dump the victim’s bodies in sugar cane fields, which were located on the other side of the borderline (South Africa).

“At the spot where the suspect claimed that they allegedly raped and killed the women, the community members found clothes, hand bags, toiletries, shopping cards and children health cards among other things which belonged to the women,” the source alleged.

He alleged that the suspect also named the six victims and their places of residences. When asked how he knew them because some of them were from other communities, the source alleged that the suspect allegedly told them that he worked with them while he was still employed in Pongola, South Africa.

“The suspect also told the community members that after allegedly gang-raping the women, they strangled them and during the night, they would go to the sugar cane fields, which are located a stone’s throw from the borderline (South African side) and dispose their bodies,” the source alleged.

He alleged that the suspect said this after he was asked where they buried the women’s bodies. He alleged that he also revealed that by dumping the victim’s bodies in the sugar cane fields, they wanted to conceal evidence as the cane would be burnt in readiness for harvest season. 

Responded

Thereafter, the source said some of the members called the police, who responded promptly to the call.
However, the source said the law enforcers found the assaulted suspect bleeding profusely and they had no other option but to rush him to the hospital, where he was admitted.

On the other hand, an elder from Nsalitje said they were intending to approach the neighbouring communities since they had handed over the matter to the police so that they could investigate it and enforce the law.

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