Pretoria - The Pretoria East father of a 19-year-old girl found murdered after going missing for more than a week, said he had to remain brave for his family when her disfigured body was discovered.
Ipeleng Moholane’s body was found in a veld in Tembisa on Monday after she went missing on May 16.
Speaking to the Pretoria News at his home on Tuesday, Isaac Moholane described the emotional trauma his family had to endure since learning of his daughter’s disappearance and subsequent death.
“On Monday, the police called us. They told us to be strong. I asked myself why I’d need to be strong because if she was all right, they would tell us to fetch her and maybe take her to the hospital,” he said.
Moholane said the police later directed him and his wife to the mortuary instead of the police station.
“When we got to the mortuary, I saw my daughter’s naked body on the stretcher. You could see that her legs had been bound, that she was strangled with a rope and that she had been raped,” Isaac said.
“We went to see her body again today (yesterday). She looks darker than normal. It’s as if her captors burnt her,” he said.
Ipeleng was reported missing on May 20 when her roommate called her parents to find out where she was.
Moholane blasted the Pretoria Central police station officers whom he accused of failure to help them and ensure that his daughter was found alive after the family went to open a missing person’s case at the station.
Moholane said he hired a private investigator who was able to determine where Ipeleng was last seen after failing to receive help from the police.
“The investigator said Ipeleng was last seen at a taxi rank at Boulders Shopping Centre. She was left behind because the taxi was full, but the taxi driver asked her to remain there as he would return and take her to her destination. But she was gone by the time he returned,” Moholane said.
“If the police had not dragged their feet investigating the matter, Ipeleng would have been found alive. The officer who was handed the case was reluctant to help and said he would only be able to report back to us a few days after we opened the case. He said it was a weekend, and the people he needed to work with were not around,” said Moholane.
He said he grew frustrated which resulted in his family and friends launching a search party. Missing person’s posters were put up around the Midrand Graduate Institute (MGI) she attended. Pictures of her went viral on social media networks and on community policing forums and security groups.
Moholane said his church’s youth organised a march appealing for Ipeleng’s safe return. He said his hope dwindled as the days went by.
“You know that the longer a person remains missing the less the chance of finding them alive? That’s what I was thinking. I wanted to find my daughter as soon as possible.”
The Pretoria News team visited the MGI on Tuesday and spoke to some of Ipeleng’s fellow students.
A sombre mood lingered in the halls of the institution.
Many students described how shocked and horrified they were when they awoke to the grim news of Ipeleng’s death.
Yolanda Masuku, a first year biomedicine student, said they were now on edge after news of Ipeleng’s death broke. “I didn’t know her personally, but I feel sad and scared because we don’t know what happened. We don’t know who she disappeared with and what the circumstances were,” Masuku said.
Tributes poured in on Twitter and Facebook, following the murder of the 19-year-old.
@Krusta tweeted: “Such a beautiful young girl; society loses another bright smile. @SAPoliceService let’s try harder.”
@morake 147 said: “Cowards have killed a defenceless woman in persuasion of power and money. R.I.P Ipeleng a phenomenal woman.”
Pretoria News