Less than four hours after the crime was committed, Alexandria police found and arrested four young men suspected of robbing, raping and setting a woman on fire in the KwaNonqubela township.
Less than four hours after the crime was committed, Alexandria police found and arrested four young men suspected of robbing, raping and setting a woman on fire in the KwaNonqubela township.
The suspects, two of whom are 16 years old, all abandoned or were denied bail, in the Alexandria Magistrate's Court last week.
On Friday morning, police reported that a group of nearly 1 000 protesters braved the cold and rain to march through KwaNonqubela to the Alexandria Magistrate's Court, escorted by marshals and closely monitored by police and traffic officers.
The group chanted while bearing placards, banners and T-shirts with slogans like: “No bail,” “Let us fight for our rights” and “Stop rape and abuse”.
The gruesome crime that sparked off the protest took place in the early hours of Sunday 29 April in KwaNonqubela, when three juveniles and an 18-year-old allegedly abducted 18-year-old Bonelwa Mkhokheli.
According to the police report, they robbed Mkhokheli of her cell phone, dragged her to a nearby abandoned house and allegedly took turns raping her. It is believed that they then bludgeoned her and set her alight before fleeing the house.
Neighbours alerted the police of the fire, and after arriving at the scene and dousing the flames they found the unrecognisable body of a woman.
Within three-and-a-half hours after the incident, Constable Zoyisile Gxogxo followed up on information that lead him to the four suspects. They were all arrested after being found huddled in one bed in a shack.
A weapon believed to be used in the crime was seized at the shack as well as Mkhokheli's cell phone. State Prosecutor Johan Carstens said, prior to the case on Friday, that the suspects all face charges of robbery, rape and murder.
Relatives of the victim sat outside the court, supported by members of Women Against Women Abuse (Wawa), who accompanied them from Port Elizabeth.
During the hearing, two of the suspects abandoned bail while the other two were denied bail. They will remain in police custody until the next court date on 1 June.
