Iyapha accused claims coercion
THE man charged with the rape and murder of 4-year-old Iyapha Yamile has denied that he willingly made a confession statement shortly after he was arrested.
Odwa Nkololo took the stand in the Western Cape High Court and contested the State’s submission of the statement.
He testified that he confessed under duress and had been assaulted.
Nkololo claims he was told to opt for a plea bargain so the judge would give a lesser sentence.
Iyapha’s body was found on May 1 last year in a plastic bag. Her family had reported her missing the previous day. Nkololo was taken in as a suspect two weeks later at his home, and charged within the prescribed 48-hour period. He has been in custody since.
Nkololo said police officers Luyanda Mathanjana and Mokgele Mohlamonyane kept interrogating him, and when he consistently told them he knew nothing about the case, they started assaulting him “for some time”. He told the court that a plastic bag had been placed over his head, and he had struggled to breathe for a while.
“I told them where I was on the Sunday, at Nyameko’s place, drinking alcohol. After I was done drinking, I left them and went to sleep. Mr Mathanjana said I was lying,” said Nkololo.
He said he was shocked when his new defence representative, Susanna Kunn, read him the confession. In it, there were statements he never made, he said.
The State is expected to cross-examine Nkololo on Monday.