Cape Town - Murder accused Gavin Manuel made his first appearance in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court Monday, charged with the murder of his 19-year-old girlfriend, Elene Lino.
It is alleged Manuel killed Lino on January 8.
Lino’s sister, Candice Baartman, found her half-naked body dumped head down in a wheelie bin on Olga Street in Manenberg. She had multiple stab wounds in her neck and back.
The State said Baartman arrived home and found the accused rummaging through the bin, with rubbish spread across the yard. Baartman then noticed that there was blood on Manuel’s clothing.
After she asked about the blood, Manuel told her he was beaten by two men earlier. The accused then pushed the bin outside the yard, while Baartman went inside her home, where she found a lot of blood. She called out after Manuel, but he ran away.
Manuel was arrested on January 14 in Mitchells Plain by metro police after an anonymous tip-off. He was later positively identified by Baartman and another witness from a photo.
Before Manuel’s arrest last week, members of the Manenberg community – outraged by the murder – confronted Manuel’s family, demanding they reveal his whereabouts.
Manenberg community leader Roegshanda Pascoe said: “We hope that the system can see that people are frustrated and people don’t care anymore to commit crime themselves to get justice.
“She [Lino] didn’t have parents, her grandfather was murdered, our children get lost in the system because it’s a flawed system. Our young girls go into relationships with older guys in order to have a sense of security and income, we cannot deny that.
“People are angry; to a certain extent I’m relieved that the police caught him, he was accused of two other rapes and he just came out recently. Besides the fact that the community is angry at him, the community is angry at the State as well, for allowing such a person back on the street,” he said.
The matter was postponed to January 24 for the State to gather bail information. Manuel will remain in custody.