Child’s body found behind shack

The family of the 11-year-old girl who went missing on New Year’s Day is still in shock after her body was found in Brazzaville only a day after her disappearance. Little Letlhogonolo Rabaji’s body was found behind a community member’s shack only a few blocks away from her home.

According to the Atteridgeville police spokesperson, Captain Thomas Mufumadi, a missing person’s report was filed with them on New Year’s Day.“The following night a community member came to the station to report that there was a body behind his shack. The police went to the site and found the body of a minor.” Mufumadi added that the police contacted Rabaji’s family to let them know about the body that was found. The brother went to the police station to identify the body and confirmed that it was indeed Rabaji. “We sent her to go buy cooldrink before we ate, as always, the shop is five minutes away from our house. We waited for her for about 30 minutes, but she was nowhere to be seen. My brother and I went looking for her at the shop. The man there told us that he had seen her, but he sent her somewhere else as he did not have any cooldrink,” the brother said.

The grief-stricken family said they had a lot of questions about her whereabouts, but never thought that she was kidnapped or that anything bad had happened. Rabaji’s mother was at church at the time and only received the news of her daughter being missing when she got home. The brother then went to the police to report Rabaji as a missing person.

“Her death is tough because we have a lot of questions lingering in our minds as to why this happened,” her brother said.

The police appeal to all community members to come forward with any information they might have. “A case has been opened and we are still busy with our investigation. Anyone with information can contact Warrant Officer Timothy Molokomme on 071-351-4223,” Mufumadi concluded. Rabaji will be laid to rest this weekend.