Dominic Adriaanse
Shamonique Claasen, the girl brutally murdered last month, was buried in Paarl at the weekend.
Shamonique, 11, went missing on February 27, the day before her birthday. After a search by her mother, family and neighbours, she was reported missing the next day.
Her body was found two days after she had gone missing, under a bed in the house of an uncle on whose property they have a shack. It was wrapped in a black bag and tied with wire after family members noticed the smell coming from inside the house.
The accused is a friend of the family and, according to reports, Shamonique was raped, stabbed and suffocated.
A spokesperson for the family, Elaine Williams, said the funeral was difficult and the family was thankful for the thousands who attended.
“There were so many people, from our neighbours to the Dalweide School staff and other people touched by Shamonique’s death. Our thanks go out to those who also helped and donated to the burial of our little ‘Simma’,” said Williams.
Shamonique’s mother, Magdaline, has no been coping with her child’s murder after the details of the accused had come to light, said Williams.
She added that the family would return to court on Thursday, when the accused is expected to appear again.
The family received counselling during the investigation, with more to be provided within the coming months for the parents and the other children.
SAPS spokesperson Andre Traut said the suspect arrested over Shamonique’s murder was still in custody after his court appearance.
“The circumstances surrounding this case are still under investigation and the finer aspects thereof cannot be disclosed,” said Traut.
Meanwhile, the accused in the rape of a four-year-old will appear in court again on March 24. The little girl was raped in Paarl last week.
The local hospital did not treat her immediately, saying she was not bleeding, even though the mother was concerned that evidence needed to be collected and that her daughter be given treatment and counselling.
The parents said her little girl remained traumatised.
“I am so relieved after all we have been through. There are times when I think my child is doing well, then she has moments where she relives what happened and I see that this will never leave her,” her father said.
In another tragedy, the funeral of Franziska Blochliger, 16, was held on Friday after a service at the St Martini Evangelical Lutheran Church in Long Street. The teen was brutally raped and beaten to death in Tokai Forest last week.
Hundreds of people attended her funeral, held hours after four men appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s court in connection with her murder.
The court was told that traces of semen found at the crime scene had been sent to the police’s forensic laboratory for analysis.
Franziska’s mother Shireen last saw her daughter alive on Monday afternoon, when the teen jogged ahead of her and her other daughter through the forest.
The following day, police arrested the four men – Howard Oliver, Jonathan Jonas, Jerome Moses and Daniel Easter – after they were allegedly found in possession of Franziska’s diamond ring, wristwatch and iPhone.
Moses is from Steenberg, while the rest are from Westlake Village. They are to appear in court again on Friday.