Johannesburg – A police officer and a State advocate have slammed the circulating of pictures of a man purported to be the killer of Karabo Mokoena as illegal.
This comes after the young woman was confirmed dead by Tshepo Mokoena, who said he was Karabo's father, adding that it was his daughter's boyfriend who had killed and burnt her.
Immediately afterwards, some people started posting picture of the man they said was Karabo's boyfriend and her killer and asking others to circulate that picture.
However, a state advocate, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Star that circulating the picture of the man was illegal and amounted to "gross defamation".
"But, now, the question is: who was the first person to publish the gentleman’s picture? Yes, everyone is in trouble for sharing this post as well. But the problem will be getting all those people in court – this will be a challenge. The best thing to do, in my view, will be to leave all the others who are sharing these pictures and focus on the original source who published the picture,” the expert said.
Her comments were echoed by police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo, who said that no one had been arrested or appeared in court for the alleged murder and, therefore, it was illegal to keep sharing the picture.
Masondo confirmed that the police were looking into Karabo's case.
However, he did not want to confirm if they were investigating a kidnapping or murder case.