Cleansing ritual reveals horror
2003-03-09 22:01
Elaine Anderson
Bulwer - The funeral of S'kumbuzo Memela (8), who died after allegedly being
assaulted by his teacher, was halted on Saturday when relatives found no
tongue in his mouth during their traditional body cleansing ritual.
The boy's mother Zithobile Sithole (27) said the family went to the
undertaker on Saturday morning to get the body and prepare it for the
burial.
"My mother and mother-in-law started washing the body and as they did that
S'kmbuzo's mouth fell open and they saw that his tongue was not there, but
there was blood coming out of his ears," said Sithole.
"The police were called and they took the body away."
Sithole said a postmortem was performed on the child without the family's
permission or knowledge.
S'kumbuzo, who was in grade 2, died 11 days after his teacher Busisiwe
Rosemary Gasela, who has been arrested for his murder, allegedly banged his
head with the heads of three class-mates who were being punished for making
a noise in class.
S'kumbuzo's mother said he had a persistent headache after the February 14 assault. A doctor told the family his skull was cracked.
He was taken to Centocow Hospital just over a week later.
S'kumbuzo was then airlifted to Edendale Hospital where he died a few days later.
Murder charge
Gasela is charged with S'kumbuzo's murder and with three counts of grievous
bodily harm arising from the assaults on the three other boys.
She was remanded and a bail hearing last Wednesday had to be
called off because a large, angry crowd had gathered at the court. People in
the courtroom waited for two hours while a crowd protested outside.
Investigating officer Inspector Mandla Ngubane told the court he was told
that the four children knocked their heads together while being held by
Gasela.
- The Witness