Half-naked body found after ‘mob justice’ attack
MFULENI residents were shocked to find the body of a half-naked man, with his hands tied behind his back, after an alleged incident of mob justice.
At about 5am yesterday, Esbaneni resident Julius Sendoatsi, 43, was alerted to the grim discovery of a body, lying face down, in front of his gate.
Sendoatsi’s neighbour had found the body, which was dressed only in its underwear and torn tracksuit pants.
“I heard my neighbour calling out my name; he was shouting that I should come out and that there’s a body at my gate.
“My brother and I came out and saw the body of a man. The man had been burnt, his hands tied at the back with what looked like a belt and one could see bits of flesh.”
Another resident, Elias Thwayinga, 31, also suspected that the body was dumped.
“What is weird is that we did not hear any screams at night, it could have been because of the strong wind, but none of us heard or saw anything.”
Thwayinga said residents would have heard something if the man was attacked in Esbaneni, and he suspects the man was necklaced in another area and then dumped.
“There were no blood marks in the area where he was found.”
Provincial police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk confirmed the residents’ find: “The male which might be approximately 25 years old was found deceased, naked with burn marks.
“It appears as if the crime was committed elsewhere and the body was dumped.”
Mfuleni Community Police Forum spokesman Alfred Dustile said it was difficult for them to stop mob justice incidents as some residents still believed in it.
Van Wyk said the incident could not be linked to mob justice at this stage.
He said no arrests had been made, but a murder investigation had been opened.