THOHOYANDOU – A GROUP of villagers who were allegedly hunting down ritual murder suspects set two houses alight in Tshivhulani village near Thohoyandou last Monday.
The rioters were set off when Ntondeni Ramaano’s (44) mutilated body was found hanging from a tree in the veld nearby last Sunday.
Ramaano went missing two weeks ago and residents had already accused the police of not searching properly for him.
The angry villagers, who suspected that Ramaano was killed for muthi purposes, blocked the Sibasa road with stones and burning tyres, and threw stones at vehicles that were passing by. Several cases of malicious damage to property were reported to the Sibasa police.
Spokesperson for the Thohoyandou police, Maj Mashudu Malelo said Ramaano’s body was already mutilated and his family and community members knew the post-mortem results as they were allowed into the pathologists’ room.
“The police are only waiting for the official documents from the pathologists in order to have every detail in the case. The situation is now under control as the public order police are patrolling the area.
“The police arrested 11 people who appeared before the Thohoyandou magistrate’s court last Tuesday facing arson and malicious damage to property charges.
“The case was remanded to Wednesday (today) for a formal bail application,” he said.
Malelo also warned residents to stop throwing stones at motorists.
• Two months ago, residents of Mbilwi village, a neighbouring village of Tshivhulani village, allegedly burnt down three houses belonging to a person they believed was a suspect in the ritual murder of gogo Nyelisani Mphaphuli (60), who was found murdered in her house.
Her eyes had been gouged out, her tongue cut off and skin removed from her face. No arrests had been made in this case as yet, Malelo confirmed.
