Sowetan

Girl saw blood-sucking killer stab dead her 5-year-old brother

Man carried out same ritual on a chicken earlier

- By Bongekile Macupe ■ macupeb@sowetan.co.za

Five-year-old Tinyiko Mongwe begged for mercy as he was being stabbed repeatedly on the neck by a 21-year-old man.

When the man finished stabbing him he picked him up and sucked blood from his neck.

Tinyiko’s older siblings witnessed the brutal death of their younger brother. The siblings were playing on the street right opposite their house at Orlando East, Soweto, when the incident happened on Monday.

Distraught older sister, Nkhensani, 9, said they were playing football on the street when the man suddenly appeared. He tried to grab her but she ran away and then went for Tinyiko.

“He started hitting him and then had him on the ground where he stomped on him and started stabbing him. My brother kept on saying ‘askies’ (sorry) but he continued stabbing him until he died.

“He then picked him up and held him like a small baby and sucked blood from his neck,” said a teary Nkhensani.

Mpho Mosiuoa, 17, Tinyiko’s other sister, also witnessed the killing of her brother.

In the small bedroom at the family home yesterday, the siblings and their mother, wept uncontroll­ably as they recalled the brutal killing .

Their mother, Rosina Mosiuoa, said the last time she saw her only son was on Monday as she left for her domestic work job in the neighbourh­ood.

“I bathed and gave him food, kissed him goodbye and said I would see him later,” she said. But when she saw her child later, he was lying in a pool of blood in the street covered in a shawl.

“I can’t sleep, I can’t eat and I keep on hoping that it is a lie that my son is dead. He was my only son and I loved him.”

The man is in hospital under police guard after the community attacked him. Police spokesman Kay Makhubele said he has been charged with murder and will appear in court once he has recovered.

The man’s home is a stone’s throw away from Mongwes’ residence.

His uncle, Moses Nkuna, said he behaved like a person who was possessed on the day.

He said three policemen failed to restrain him, and even after he was hit by a brick on the head by community members, he did not bleed.

“I managed to restrain him and he told me that he was thirsty and wanted to drink human blood,” Nkuna said.

He said on Friday, the man had bought a chicken, slaughtere­d it and drank its blood.

Other people said he was a quiet person and called him “mfundisi” (pastor) because of his church affiliatio­n.

‘ ‘ He told me he was thirsty and wanted human blood

 ?? / SANDILE NDLOVU ?? Grief-stricken Rosina Mosiuoa, Tinyiko’s mother, is comforted by her sisters.
/ SANDILE NDLOVU Grief-stricken Rosina Mosiuoa, Tinyiko’s mother, is comforted by her sisters.

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