Cape Town - A prison warden’s son accused of raping, sodomising and murdering Franziska Blöchliger could be getting special treatment in jail.
People have reacted in outrage, saying the suspect was “getting rewarded” for committing murder.
Four men have been arrested in connection with the brutal killing of the 16-year-old girl, including the 21-year-old suspect.
Read: Tokai murder case postponed over DNA tests
At their last appearance in the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court on April 5, one of the accused abandoned his bail application, telling a magistrate he felt safer in jail.
The other three men will go ahead with their bail bid on April 28.
The four are currently being incarcerated at Pollsmoor Prison, where the warden lives and works.
It’s alleged that nice food is smuggled in for the suspect, he sleeps in a single cell, and that his father’s colleagues are “looking out” for him in jail.
A woman, who claimed her dad is a warden and who also lives at Pollsmoor, said the suspect was “living in luxury” because his dad works at the jail.
In a post on Facebook, the outraged woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “On Saturday I went to do my hair by one of the prison ladies and I overheard how much special treatment one of the #TokaiMurderer suspects is getting.
“My question is would you as a parent still support a heartless brutal killer? How can you sneak him nice food, get your colleagues/friends to watch him and put him in a single cell but he has blood on his hands?”
Reacting to the post, Rashieda Abrahams Stober said: “Oh My Word, f*** this justice system! He needs to be put with the hardened criminals! He took a young innocent life and now he gets rewarded for it?!”
But the Department of Correctional Services said the claims are untrue.
The Department’s spokesman Simphiwe Xako said: “In fact, all four men charged for the murder and rape of Franziska Blöchliger are held at the Remand Detention Facility at Pollsmoor Correctional Facility, not in the Juvenile Section. They are however separated for security reasons, so that the investigators can complete their work in preparation for the court case.”
Xako added that the suspect’s father works in a different section from where he is being kept.
Franziska’s body was found in the Tokai Forest in March after she went for a jog.
Daily Voice