Johannesburg - Old condoms were found in a shack in which an 11-year-old girl’s body was discovered buried under a bed in North West.
It has also emerged that the 41-year-old suspect arrested for the murder of the girl had been out on parole since November 2011 after serving 16 years of his 27-year prison sentence for the 1995 murder and rape of a woman in Brits.
The police said a number of used condoms containing semen, wristwatches, earrings as well as a pair of pants with holes cut in the private parts area and the backside were found in the suspect’s shack after the body was discovered.
North West police spokesman Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said: “We’re now looking at all the possibilities, and chances are that more women could have been raped in that shack in incidents that were never reported.
“We have had cases where some suspects have been keeping garments and items belonging to their victims as trophies for their evil deeds,” he added.
“Investigations are under way and we’re hoping for some more revelations and maybe for more victims to come forth, if there are any.
“The girl’s body was found with her underpants hanging from one leg, and we’re waiting for confirmation on whether she was raped.”
Ngubane said the suspect had since made a confession to the police and revealed that he had kidnapped the girl, shoved a facecloth in her mouth to prevent her from making any noise, and taken her to his house, where he strangled her.
It is possible that Ofentse Mogale suffered the ordeal around the same time that 17-year-old Anene Booysen was killed.
The teenager from Bredasdorp in the Western Cape was gang-raped, mutilated and left for dead.
She was found disembowelled and fighting for life on February 2, but managed to identify one of her attackers before she died in hospital later that day.
While Anene’s family were dealing with the shock of her brutal murder and rape, Ofentse’s mother and her partner had been alerted by the girl’s brother that he had woken up and found his sister missing.
The two had been sleeping in a different room from their mother and her partner.
The police were alerted at about 3am and started a frantic search.
It was only when police dogs were brought in that her body was found.
“It is possible looking at the grave dug under the bed, which was not so deep, that it was meant to keep the girl before her body could be abandoned somewhere at a later stage,” Ngubane said.
Meanwhile, the police said the suspect’s shack had been set alight, allegedly by angry residents, early on Thursday, just a few hours before a memorial service was held in honour of Ofentse at her school in Mmakau.
Police said the suspect had been charged for murder and kidnapping and that rape would possibly be added once a post-mortem had confirmed it took place.
The suspect was set to appear in the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for a bail application.
Ngubane said the police were at an advanced stage of getting the man’s parole revoked so that he could go back to prison and complete his 27-year prison sentence while his new case proceeded in court.
Ofentse was buried in Maboloka near Brits on Saturday, the same day Anene was laid to rest in Bredasdorp.
The two teenagers’ brutal murders are just some of the cases that have shocked and outraged the country.
In a recent case, a 98-year-old woman was raped and strangled in Mahikeng, also in North West, last month.
In another incident, the police are looking for a 20-year-old man who allegedly raped his three-year-old niece in Mankweng, Limpopo, on Friday.
The rape of a 21-year-old university student by five men was reported in Pretoria earlier this year.
The Star