The tiny, lifeless body of Liyema Dutywa, 10, was found in Sommerville Forest near Tsolo on Saturday after she disappeared from her Misty Mount Magcakini Junior Secondary School near Mthatha on Friday.
Within hours police had arrested three people, two of them close relatives.
The suspects will appear in the Libode Magistrate’s Court today on charges of abduction, murder and the possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition.
One of the suspects is believed to have lived with Liyema before he and the woman he was living with, kicked her out. She had been living with her great-grandmother, who was her legal guardian at the time of her death.
Police believe Liyema, who was in Grade 5, was strangled before she was fatally shot in the chest.
When the Daily Dispatch visited the family yesterday, Liyema’s grandmother Veliswa Dutywa said they could not understand why anyone would want to harm her.
“We still do not know how we are going to ever come to terms with her death. She was a bubbly and happy child who liked school and learning and even wanted to be a teacher.”
Liyema is the fourth child to be brutally murdered this year alone in the Eastern Cape.
In February this year, the Daily Dispatch reported on the murder and kidnapping of 13-year-old Vusumzi “Mzu” Mabude from Mbizana. Three people were arrested.
In April, four-year-old Kamvelihle Ngala was slaughtered like a “sacrificial lamb”, as the killer was said to have skinned the child, drank his blood, and then ate his heart and brains. His 30-year-old uncle was arrested.
Just last month, the East London community was shocked by the murder of Jayde Veldman, 3, whose body was found dumped near her home in Second Creek in Parkside. Her body had been sliced with a panga.
No arrests have yet been made in Jayde’s killing.
Dutywa said they got worried when Liyema did not come home after she was reportedly picked up at school by the close relative believed to have killed her.
“From what we have heard from Liyema’s cousins who went to the same school as her, a man driving a double-cab bakkie came and took Liyema just as they had finished their morning exam at around 11 and that did not sit well with us.
“But because we knew who this man was, we only started worrying when she was not back by nightfall and that is when we called the police to report her missing,” said Dutywa.
She said she made a follow-up call to police on Saturday morning.
“They told us they were on top of the case and had already arrested three people but the officer did not say she was dead.
“It was only later that we heard the heartbreaking news from one of the family elders,” she said.
Veliswa is a maternal aunt to Liyema’s mother, who is studying in Cape Town and had to be told of the tragedy over the phone.
She said although the school should never have released Liyema to the male relative without the great-grandmother’s consent, they had forgiven the school, saying everything happened because it was God’s will.
Hawks commander in Mthatha Colonel Loyiso Mdingi said their investigation led them to the forest in Tsolo where they found the relative.
The suspect had claimed to have been hijacked at Sibangweni village while travelling with the deceased.
“However, we were reluctant to believe his story because if they were really hijacked how did he not end up getting killed as well?
“He then led us to the scene, where we found the spent cartridge of an unlicensed 9mm right next to the victim. However we also noted signs of strangulation, which may be confirmed by the autopsy.”
They then took the suspect to the Tsolo police station. After taking a statement from him, police picked up the other two suspects – another man and a woman.
“The second male suspect upon interrogation quickly told us there was no hijacking and further questioning led us to the murder weapon, which they all confirmed belongs to the female suspect’s father.
“They have all confessed their part in the abduction and murder and will appear in court tomorrow ,” Mdingi said.
Children’s rights activist Petros Majola, speaking on behalf of the Khula Community Development Project, an advocacy group that fights for children’s rights, said they were disappointed the school had released Liyema without her guardian’s consent.
He promised to work with the department of education and investigate the matter.
Body of girl (10) found- Three held, fourth child victim this year in the Eastern Cape
Within hours police had arrested three people, two of them close relatives.
The suspects will appear in the Libode Magistrate’s Court today on charges of abduction, murder and the possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition.
One of the suspects is believed to have lived with Liyema before he and the woman he was living with, kicked her out. She had been living with her great-grandmother, who was her legal guardian at the time of her death.
Police believe Liyema, who was in Grade 5, was strangled before she was fatally shot in the chest.
When the Daily Dispatch visited the family yesterday, Liyema’s grandmother Veliswa Dutywa said they could not understand why anyone would want to harm her.
“We still do not know how we are going to ever come to terms with her death. She was a bubbly and happy child who liked school and learning and even wanted to be a teacher.”
Liyema is the fourth child to be brutally murdered this year alone in the Eastern Cape.
In February this year, the Daily Dispatch reported on the murder and kidnapping of 13-year-old Vusumzi “Mzu” Mabude from Mbizana. Three people were arrested.
In April, four-year-old Kamvelihle Ngala was slaughtered like a “sacrificial lamb”, as the killer was said to have skinned the child, drank his blood, and then ate his heart and brains. His 30-year-old uncle was arrested.
Just last month, the East London community was shocked by the murder of Jayde Veldman, 3, whose body was found dumped near her home in Second Creek in Parkside. Her body had been sliced with a panga.
No arrests have yet been made in Jayde’s killing.
Dutywa said they got worried when Liyema did not come home after she was reportedly picked up at school by the close relative believed to have killed her.
“From what we have heard from Liyema’s cousins who went to the same school as her, a man driving a double-cab bakkie came and took Liyema just as they had finished their morning exam at around 11 and that did not sit well with us.
“But because we knew who this man was, we only started worrying when she was not back by nightfall and that is when we called the police to report her missing,” said Dutywa.
She said she made a follow-up call to police on Saturday morning.
“They told us they were on top of the case and had already arrested three people but the officer did not say she was dead.
“It was only later that we heard the heartbreaking news from one of the family elders,” she said.
Veliswa is a maternal aunt to Liyema’s mother, who is studying in Cape Town and had to be told of the tragedy over the phone.
She said although the school should never have released Liyema to the male relative without the great-grandmother’s consent, they had forgiven the school, saying everything happened because it was God’s will.
Hawks commander in Mthatha Colonel Loyiso Mdingi said their investigation led them to the forest in Tsolo where they found the relative.
The suspect had claimed to have been hijacked at Sibangweni village while travelling with the deceased.
“However, we were reluctant to believe his story because if they were really hijacked how did he not end up getting killed as well?
“He then led us to the scene, where we found the spent cartridge of an unlicensed 9mm right next to the victim. However we also noted signs of strangulation, which may be confirmed by the autopsy.”
They then took the suspect to the Tsolo police station. After taking a statement from him, police picked up the other two suspects – another man and a woman.
“The second male suspect upon interrogation quickly told us there was no hijacking and further questioning led us to the murder weapon, which they all confirmed belongs to the female suspect’s father.
“They have all confessed their part in the abduction and murder and will appear in court tomorrow ,” Mdingi said.
Children’s rights activist Petros Majola, speaking on behalf of the Khula Community Development Project, an advocacy group that fights for children’s rights, said they were disappointed the school had released Liyema without her guardian’s consent.
He promised to work with the department of education and investigate the matter.
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