�Man wanted to kill boy, suck his blood�
Lebogang Mosikare | Thursday January 26, 2017 15:36
The man’s brief appearance in court yesterday follows a gruesome incident in which a 17-year-old girl allegedly hacked a three-year-old boy to death in Area S location last week. That particular incident left residents of Areas S and social media commentators speculating that the alleged perpetrator of the murder was influenced by the devil to kill her young neighbour.
In the present matter, where the prosecution has charged 22-year-old Jabulani Jowa with common assault, harrowing details came to the fore in court sending chills down the spines of people in attendance.
The state alleges that Jowa assaulted his seven-year-old victim – who cannot be named for legal reasons – with a shovel on the upper right hand of his shoulder on January 22. He allegedly committed the act because he suspected that the young boy was a witch.
Sergeant Mbatshi Mafa testified that the crime was not as simple as common assault.
“There are allegations that the accused intended to kill his victim and then suck his blood,” Mafa said.
“The investigations officer is yet to investigate more on those allegations. He has to find out if the accused was habouring any malice towards the complainant. We also apply that the accused should be taken for psychiatric evaluation to ascertain if he is suffering from any mental disease.” The details emerged after Mafa applied for Jowa to be remanded in custody, to which the magistrate, Dumisani Basupi objected, saying common assault was not a serious matter.
Basupi also questioned whether the charge was correct, saying common assault is an offence, which in some cases involves an accused person slapping another person.
“In the current matter, the accused allegedly used a shovel to commit the offence and therefore what he allegedly did cannot be equated to common assault, but is a more serious offence,” Basupi said. In response, Mafa said police had charged Jowa with common assault as a holding charge as investigations into the matter are still continuing.
“The investigations will guide us to charge the accused with an appropriate charge once they are complete,” he said. The magistrate said the matter appeared both serious and strange. “Allegations faced by the accused are in my view serious and strange. I say so because this is not a common incident in this jurisdiction.
The matter seems to be the first of its kind in my jurisdiction. I therefore find it appropriate to give the prosecution enough time to investigate this matter,” he said.
Jowa was remanded in custody and will have to undergo psychiatric evaluation. He will next appear in court on February 9, 2017 for a status report.