Mabeskraal - North West police on Wednesday said a case of arson had been opened after some residents of Mabeskraal, just outside Rustenburg, burnt down a house belonging to a man accused of killing an elderly woman.
“The community suspected a man called ‘Topdog’ to have killed the woman. He was seen in the village on Monday … the crowd then burnt down a house belonging to his parents,” said Sergeant Kelebogile Moleko.
The house was set alight on Tuesday, but no arrests had been made yet
However, Moleko said police were questioning a man, who had been taken to hospital and earlier on Wednesday.
“He is not yet charged. The police are questioning him for investigation,” said Moleko.
She said police in Sun City had opened an inquest docket after post-mortem results revealed the elderly woman died of natural causes.
The deceased identified as Rebecca “Madituku” Moteane (82) was found dead in her house a week ago on Thursday.
“She was found in a pool of blood,” her daughter Jennifer Bodiba said.
“I called my mother on Monday evening [last week] but, we could not talk as the line was bad. I thought it was network connection problems,” said Bodiba who live in Pretoria.
When she called on Tuesday her mother didn’t answer the calls. Bodiba said she became worried when on Wednesday she still could not get hold of her mother.
“I was worried that she might have been sick, I call a neighbour who told me she did not see the light on the previous night, and suggested that my mother might have visited relatives,” recalled Bodiba.
“I then call relatives in Mogwase, who told me that they have sent prepaid electricity voucher through another neighbour to her.”
Bodiba said she then enquired with the neighbour who told her she didn’t deliver the voucher because the gate was locked. The neighbour said one widow open. The next day the neghbour again checked on the house and the gate was still locked and the window open.
“I asked the neighbour to get into the house through the window to check … they found the house ransacked. My mother was found dead in her bedroom,” said Bodiba.
After Moteane was found dead, irate community members went on a rampage. They barricaded roads with objects. They also searched for a man they suspected of killing Moteane.
The man was described as a serial rapist, who allegedly targets old women who live alone.
Community members traced the suspect and found him at a cattle post on Tuesday night. The suspect was beaten up by the mob, but he was saved by police when they arrived. The man was taken to hospital, where police continue to question him.
The mob then moved to the house owned by the suspect’s parents and torched it.
Unconfirmed reports doing the rounds in the community alleged the suspect raped Moteane and used a “razor blade” to slash her before he allegedly killed her.
Moteane will be laid to rest in Mabeskraal on Saturday.
African News Agency.
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