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Min Faith Muthambi (second from left, back row) comforts the family of the deceased.

16-year-old dies painful death at hands of ritual murderers

 

A 16-year-old girl from Gumbani outside Malamulele in the new Lim 345 municipality died a painful death when body parts merchants suspectedly killed her in the most barbaric way.

Rhandu Manganyi went missing last Sunday and her body, with some parts missing, was found at the nearby Shingwedzi River last Thursday. Her death and the subsequent discovery of her body is one of the ongoing incidents of alleged ritual murder in the Vhembe and Mopani regions.

The girl and her nine siblings, living in abject poverty, were staying with a good Samaritan after their shack collapsed after the torrential rains. Her death has left the community shattered.

The victim's elder sister, Ms Khangela Manganyi, said the girl left home around 13:00 last Sunday, saying she was going to relieve herself in the nearby bushes, as they did not have a toilet at home. That was the last time she was seen alive. "We waited for her to come back, but she did not. We, together with the help of the community, searched everywhere, but the search did not yield any positive results," she said.

Manganyi further indicated that some community members told them she had been seen around the village, which eased their suspense, thinking she was around. "Her phone was on until Wednesday and that's when we started panicking seriously and we reported the matter to the police."

She said they had received the bad news on Thursday that she had been found dead at the nearby river. “We rushed there and what we saw was scary. Her ears were cut off, her face's skin was removed, her eyes were gorged out and skin on her fingers was removed.” She added that it was a difficult time for the family and that they were failing to come to terms with the incident.

She added that the family did not feel safe as they did not know who was behind the killing and whether the person could still come for the other family members.

On Tuesday, the Minister of Public Services, Ms Faith Muthambi, and the mayor of Lim 345, Cllr Joyce Bila, visited the grief-stricken family. Muthambi said they visited the family to show that they were touched and concerned about what had happened and to support the family.

"This is a tragedy; how can a human kill somebody in such a barbaric way? Where is our ubuntu? Let us go back to the basics. My plea is that we should all stand up and fight this scourge. We also need prayers for an end to this demon," she said.

During this paper's visit to the family, funeral preparations were ongoing with the minister, local traditional leader Hosi Richard Mkhachani Mabasa, businesspeople and the whole community joining hands to give the girl a decent funeral.

 

Date:15 July 2017

By: Maanda Bele

Maanda  Bele, born and raised in Nzhelele Siloam, studied journalism at the Tshwane University of Technology.

He is passionate about current news and international affairs.

He worked as part of the Zoutnet team as an intern in 2017.

He is currently a freelance journalist specialising in news from the Vhembe district.

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