The 32-year-old Mozambican national linked with the brutal murder of the 15-year-old girl from Nsangwini confessed that he killed her because she knew him.
Derciou Khumbani is alleged to have told this to the police on Tuesday when he led them to the crime scene. Khumbani was arrested in connection with the rape and murder of the pupil Noncedo Gama on Monday while at the Pigg’s Peak Magistrate’s Court, where he was appearing for separate charges of robbery and attempted rape.
The foreign national recorded a 2-hour 15-minute confession before Magistrate Thabiso Fakudze. Khumbani is alleged to have raped and killed the teen girl in April. The girl was reported missing on a Wednesday and her body was later found on a Friday in a bush along the way to school.
On Monday, the man was remanded for the attempted rape of a 32-year-old woman from Meleti. It is alleged that the accused attacked the woman in June and stuck some socks in her mouth before starting to stab her with a knife while forcing her to have sexual intercourse with him. However, the woman was able to fight him off despite the injuries she sustained from the knife and biting by the accused.
Drama unfolded at the Pigg’s Peak Magistrate’s Court on Monday when police officers, led by Pigg’s Peak Desk Officer Justice Motsa, attempted to escort the suspect to a police car for questioning.
Screamed
Witnesses said the suspect screamed for help and refused to board the vehicle despite repeated requests from officers. Police were eventually assisted by correctional services officers in placing him into the vehicle before transporting him to the police station.
Police alleged that during questioning, the suspect admitted involvement in the rape and murder of the teenager. Detectives from the Pigg’s Peak Police Station and the Lukhozi Serious Crime Unit were reportedly led by the suspect to the crime scene at Nsangwini as investigations continued.
When appearing in court yesterday, the accused had some scratch marks on the neck and face, which he sustained while trying to rape the woman. He also had his hand wrapped in a bandage.
It is alleged that while at the crime scene the accused disclosed that he was able to kill the teenager because she was young and powerless. His sentiments have left the community of Nsangwini outraged given that he attacked a defenceless and innocent girl.
The arrest is expected to bring relief to the Nsangwini community and the bereaved Gama family, who have endured months of grief and uncertainty.
The murder had sparked outrage within the community, with some residents conducting their own searches and questioning people they suspected of being involved in the crime. In some instances, families were reportedly targeted and accused of harbouring the suspect. Police intervention later established that those being accused had no connection to the offence.
Gama disappeared on a Wednesday morning while travelling to school. When she did not return home that afternoon, her worried family, together with community members, launched a search.
Her body was discovered two days later in a forest along her usual route to school. She had sustained severe head injuries, and a stone believed to have been used during the attack was found beside her body.
Traditional leaders also intervened, with Nsangwini Chief Sibonangaye Dlamini urging community members to allow police investigations to proceed and to refrain from taking the law into their own hands.
‘MY CHILDREN ALMOST DIED BECAUSE OF ACCUSED’
Gogo Margret Mabuza, who had come to court to see the man linked with the rape and murder of Noncedo Gama, said her children were almost arrested or killed for nothing.
This was after the suspect left the deceased girl’s bag at her gate. She said she was surprised to find out that the bag of the missing girl was found hanging at her homestead’s gate. She said the search party started suspecting that her family knew about the whereabouts of the missing girl and some even bayed for her male children’s blood.
The situation was, however, salvaged by some residents including traditional authorities. Mabuza said upon hearing that there is a Mozambican man who has been arrested in connection with the offence, she made sure that she came to court to see him with her own eyes.
She said as a family they now find closure as there were a lot of people who were being suspected to be behind the death of the teen girl.
