TZANEEN – THE family of 9-year-old girl, Ria Letsoalo, who was abducted, strangled and left to suffocate to death in a plastic bag before her body was buried in a shallow grave, will have to wait six weeks before they can lay the child to rest.
The Letsoalo family in Midinyeni village near Bolobedu is still mourning three weeks after the horrific discovery of the child’s body. The family’s efforts to lay Ria to rest came to nothing after the police told them they could not bury her yet. The family had already started making funeral arrangements.
Tzaneen cluster police spokesperson, Lt Col Moatshe Ngoepe, said the family was told that the funeral could only take place after the outcome of the DNA test had been received. He said the police had conducted a DNA test to determine if the body exhumed from the shallow grave was indeed that of Ria’s.
“We do not want to make any mistakes,” Ngoepe explained.
The fact that they would have to wait was not well received by the Letsoalo family.
Ria’s mother, Tshepo, said the wait was killing her and she needed closure. Tshepo said the family had been through a lot and laying her daughter to rest would give them closure.
“Six weeks is a long time when one is waiting to bury one’s child. I can’t wait anymore. I dealt with the trauma after she went missing. I dug in the shallow grave and saw her little decomposed body. Now I have to deal with the fact that she is gone forever. What have I done to suffer like this? I want to bury my daughter and try to continue my life,” she said.
Ria went missing over a month ago when Tshepo went to a funeral. While at the funeral, Tshepo received a call from an anonymous person asking her whether her children were safe.
When she returned home she found the back door broken and Ria missing. A missing person docket was opened at the local police station. A few days later, a 24-year-old man, David Maenetja, was arrested.
He was questioned and, according to Ngoepe, admitted to kidnapping Ria, strangling her and putting her in a plastic bag before burying her in the shallow grave.
Maenetja was charged with kidnapping, burglary and murder when he appeared before the Bolobedu magistrate’s court following his arrest.
His bail application was denied and the case was postponed to May 18.
