'I was hanged from a hook'
2008-03-31 21:03
Grahamstown - One of the men accused of murdering and robbing a petrol station attendant told the High Court on Monday that a policeman "hanged me from a hook in a cell and beat me with a small garden spade".
Katiso Mapeyi, 27, and his nephew Ayanda Mapeyi, 19, of Barkly East, tried to block evidence of a pointing-out and confessions to a magistrate from being admitted as evidence.
The two are accused of robbing and stabbing to death Johannes Mokoko, 54, at the Barkly East Toyota service station on October 1 2005.
They pleaded not guilty and raised an alibi defence.
Captain Johannes Pienaar told the court he conducted the pointing-out with Mapeyi on March 10 2007, at the garage.
Pienaar said Mapeyi signed forms to indicate that he had not been "forced or coerced into participating in the pointing-out".
"However, he (Mapeyi) did say he was assaulted when he was arrested and I noted this on the form, and when we finished the pointing-out, I informed both the station commander and the investigating officer."
Claimed he was slapped
Pienaar said that when he took Mapeyi to the garage, he had said: "Yes, this is the place where I stabbed the person who has died."
But Mapeyi took the stand and claimed he was slapped across the face and beaten with a garden spade and forced to confess to something he did not know about.
"One of the detectives put me in handcuffs and leg irons, and took me to a cell where they locked up and assaulted people.
"I was made to stand on a chair and put my cuffed hands over a hook in the ceiling. The chair was kicked away and I was left hanging from the hook."
Officers who arrested and interrogated the suspects denied allegations of assault, and said "the accused were both co-operative and made their statements, and the subsequent pointing-out, voluntarily".
The trial continues.
- SAPA