Eastern Cape police shot dead two men after two women and a six-year-old girl were killed in a Christmas Day attack allegedly linked to witchcraft.
Ntombizanele Combo, 45, was killed after the rondavel she was in was set alight at Timane village near Dutywa, said Captain Jackson Manatha.
Her six-year-old granddaughter Sibulele Combo tried to escape, but the attackers pushed her back inside. The other two people in the hut, Combo's daughter and young son, managed to escape the fire.
Eighty-year-old Nokwesile Wogqoyi was hacked to death nearby with bushknives. When police came to take a look at Wogqoyi's body on Friday morning, Ntombizanele Combo's son Baba Wogqoyi threatened police with an iron rod.
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"Warning shots were fired, but he kept on advancing on the police, who eventually shot him in the leg as the lives of the police were in danger," said Manatha.
He bled to death at the scene before an ambulance arrived.
Later the body of another man, Mthuthindaba Nqontso, 57, was found with a bullet wound.
"It is suspected that he may have been unfortunately hit by one the warning shots," said Manatha.
Seven men and a woman were arrested and are expected to appear in the Dutywa Magistrate's Court on Monday to face arson and murder charges.
"The motive behind the murders is believed to be witchcraft as nothing was stolen from the two homesteads."
Also in the Eastern Cape, a two-year-old girl was raped at Zingqayi Village in Butterworth on Christmas Day.
"The child went missing after a playing with a one-year-old boy," said Manatha.
"Her cries were then heard by her neighbour, who went into the house to check what was happening when she opened the door she saw a 22-year-old man zipping up his trousers. The man then ran away when he saw the neighbour.
Manatha said he was not sure if the man was related to the child. The girl was in a stable condition.
A 17-year-old girl was gang raped at party at Xilinxa Village the same day.
"It is alleged that seven suspects entered through a window, and found the girl in a room in the house the party was at.
They then gangraped her and ran away her parents then found her in the room," Manatha said.
No arrests were made and police were investigating. - Sapa
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This article was originally published on page 5 of Cape Argus on December 28, 2008
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