Pretoria - Residents of Itireleng informal settlement near Laudium stoned a madressa after finding the mutilated body of an 8-year-old boy who had gone missing earlier this week.
The boy’s body was found behind the building - an institution for the study of Islamic theology and religious law - which also houses a number of foreign nationals.
The child was found behind the building on Tuesday after a frantic search by the community.
The boy’s eyes had been gouged out, and his hand and nose cut off.
This angered residents who stoned and vandalised the madressa claiming the foreign nationals were behind the murder.
The foreigners fled.
Lorraine Laka, who lives near the centre, was one of the first on the scene when the boy was found.
She was shocked at the state of the body and took pictures on her cellphone.
“When the community discovered the body, they got angry and blamed foreigners,” said Laka.
On Thursday, police returned to the scene when some members of the community returned to the madressa and continued to loot.
When the Pretoria News visited the scene many of the building’s windows were broken and rooms had been damaged by fire.
Police were still on the scene to prevent further looting.
A foreign national said angry locals had taken furniture and anything they could get their hands on. He said some of the people living there had lost thousands of rand.
The boy’s family declined to speak to the Pretoria News.
“The child’s mother identified the body. She had reported him missing earlier this week,” said police spokesman Constable Tumisang Moloto.
A 39-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the murder and will appear in the Atteridgeville Magistrate’s Court soon, he added.
Pretoria News