NAAS – Police had to take a woman to hospital after she was accused of witchcraft and severely beaten by community members on Monday morning. Her house was also burnt down.
The trouble started when the woman was spotted in the yard of the Mahlalela family without any clothes on at about 04:00 on Monday. Ms Winile Mahlalela (28) said her brother saw the women with an object that looked like a horn when he went to work.
He shouted at Winile, and they woke their mother. A shout awoke one of the neighbours, who fired a shot, as he thought criminals were making the racket.
During this time the woman disappeared. The group started looking for her and found footprints leading to a nearby house.
When they knocked on the front door, she opened it, still naked, and shouted at them.
“We prayed and she started doing funny things and shouting like an owl. She pointed at me with the horn-looking object and shouted, ‘I want you Winile,'” Winile claimed.
The woman’s husband intervened and brought the woman a dress to put on. He was unaware of what had transpired earlier as he was asleep. He said she left to go sleep in another room, as she couldn’t sleep and saw snakes.
Winile wanted to know what the woman wanted from her, but she demanded to be taken to the tribal authorities to explain what happened.
At the tribal authorities, the woman apologised for her actions but community members who had gathered in the meantime demanded she show them what she was doing when the Mahlalelas found her.
According to Winile, she walked out of the tribal house, took off the dress she was wearing and mimicked what she did.
She claimed to have killed four people and that four deceased children from the Mahlalela family and others were under her bed, and that she was using them.
The Mahlalela family now fear for their safety.
Winile said that she did not know the woman personally, but that she was rumoured to be a prophet who helped people.
Outraged community members beat the woman and accused her of witchcraft.
Police officers were notified of the incident, intervened and took her to hospital where she is recovering from her injuries. Her house burnt down after community members set it on fire later that day.
Police are investigating the incidents.
Capt Mzwandile Nyambi, spokesman for Tonga SAPS, warned the community against taking the law into their own hands. “If there are situations such as these, people should contact the police to let them investigate the case. People who take the law into their own hands and commit crimes will be arrested,” he stated.
