Pretoria - A call made to murder-accused Thato Kutumela by 18-year-old Zanele Khumalo on the day of her death indicated that she was still alive after midday.
A police data analyst, Warrant Officer Theo Ernst Botha, told the Pretoria High Court on Monday that Khumalo had five missed calls on her phone from Kutumela on April 21, 2011.
The last missed call was at 12.15pm, and moments after that, Khumalo returned the call and the two spoke for 36 minutes.
Khumalo was found dead in her parents’ Garsfontein home later that afternoon when they returned home from work.
Her naked body was covered with a blanket and her pyjamas, panties and robe were missing.
It is suspected that she was strangled.
Kutumela, who was dating Khumalo at the time, is facing charges of murder and rape. At the time of her death, Khumalo was five months pregnant with Kutumela's baby.
The court heard earlier that Kutumela briefly visited her on the morning of her death, but he claimed she was well when he left.
Botha told the court that according to the data report compiled from information downloaded from Khumalo’s cellphone, the two spoke several times in the early hours of April 21.
At 1.18am they spoke for 25 minutes until 1.38am; then at 1.42am, they spoke for 34 minutes; and the last call, which lasted for three minutes, was at 2.21am.
Kutumela than again tried to call her, at 2.29am and 2.33am, and then again at 9.08am.
Khumalo’s parents, Themba and Busi Khumalo, as well as her uncle Modise Lebelo, attended court on Monday.
The case will continue with Botha’s testimony on Tuesday.
Pretoria News