Woman queried in Anika inquest
The inquest into the murder of 17-year-old Anika Smit began this week, five years after her mutilated body was found in her father’s house in Pretoria North.
The inquest into the murder of schoolgirl Anika Smit five years ago resumed on Wednesday with the evidence of a young woman on the habits of a boyfriend.
Prosecutor Tania Carstens questioned the woman during the proceedings in the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court.
Known as “Penguin” a name she used on the messaging app Mxit, the woman was emotional and broke down before she was questioned. She said she barely knew the deceased.
Carstens and Magistrate Pierre Wessels sought to reassure her that her participation in the inquest was about pursuing the truth.
The court has ordered the media not to disclose the names of the witnesses.
Penguin’s fiancé, “Vampire” (a name also used on Mxit) was one of the individuals taken in for questioning by the police a few days after Smit’s death.
The inquest hear on Tuesday heard of Mxit messages the boyfriend had sent to another boy about killing rituals.
The message read in part: “i want 2 c a persne dead.. do u have a ritual 2 kil.”
The 17-year-old Smit’s throat was slit and her hands chopped off when she was killed in her family home in the north of Pretoria in 2010.
This same boy spent his spare time dissecting snakes and then freezing them, his mother testified on Tuesday.
The inquest also heard that “Vampire” bunked school on the day of the murder.
Asked if she had any knowledge of “Vampire” being an occult name, the Penguin said she could not confirm this. Penguin had been involved with Vampire for nine years after they two met in the same high school (Gerrit Maritz) Smit attended.
Penguin said she would sometimes argue with Vampire and, but denied that her fiancé harassed other girls when questioned by Carstens.
“He used to say that he was a monster, he was bullied at school”, said Penguin.
On Tuesday, Vampire’s mother was questioned by Carstens about two photographs.
One photo had a boy holding two swords, the other showed a boy with blood on the side of his face.
The “Vampire’s” mother was asked to identify those in the pictures to determine if one of them was her son. She was criticised when neglected to respond right away that none of the two was his sin.
The “Vampire’s” twin sister also denied that it was her brother in the photo.
Both mother and daughter also denied that photos of the boy’s room and that the room belonged to the boy.
Smit’s mother Charlotte Eksteen, who was advised by her legal team to refrain from speaking to the media, said she was happy that the inquest was underway.
She said she hoped she would find closure in knowing who was responsible for her daughter’s death.
Smit’s half-sister Cindy Rudman said: “I am here to support my mother and I am relieved that something is finally happening.
The inquest continues.
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