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'Witch killers' appear in court
11/06/2007 19:24 - (SA)
Tshwarelo eseng Mogakane
Bushbuckridge - Seven people have appeared in court in connection with stoning a woman and burning her to death because they suspected she was a witch.
Mercy Segodi (74) returned home from church last Sunday afternoon, June 3, to find a mob outside her house in Casteel, Bushbuckridge.
The mob allegedly stoned her and burnt her to death.
Her ashes were then allegedly scooped up, placed on a corrugated iron sheet, and paraded around the community while the mob sang Segodi's favourite church hymns.
According to neighbours, the mob accused her of causing the death of a boy who died in at Tintswalo hospital after complaining of headaches.
They say the boy, who was buried last Saturday, had apparently seen zombies at Segodi's house about two weeks earlier.
He told his family that Segodi warned him not to tell anyone about what he'd seen.
A few days later the boy started getting headaches. He was taken to Tintswalo hospital, where Segodi visited him. Soon after she left, he died.
He was buried last Saturday, June 2.
Journalists who have tried to visit the scene of the murder have been chased away by members of Segodi's family.
"They told me to go or else face their wrath," said journalist Brian Kajengo this week.
The suspects appeared in the Acornhoek magistrate's court and were not asked to plead or apply for bail.
"This is a complex case, we need to investigate it carefully. That's why it has been postponed indefinitely for further investigation," said Acornhoek police spokesperson Constable Zanele Sibuyi.
She said investigators would look into the cause of the boy's death.
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