/ 29 August 2000

CHURCHGOER ARRESTED WITH CHILD’S BODY PARTS

A MAN accused of decapitating a five-year-old boy and cutting off his genitals and left arm, was allegedly caught with the body parts at a church service and arrested. The man was arrested at a Zion Christian Church in Bettiesgood village in Mpuluzi near Piet Retief. Little Nkosinathi Thela was found mutilated in KwaThandeka near Amsterdam last Wednesday. Police said the suspect arrived at church carrying the body parts in a plastic bag. A member of the congregation noticed the packet and alerted the pastor, who called police. Police allegedly found a child’s head, arm and genitals in the packet. The little boy was missing for two days before a woman collecting wood found his mutilated body near a stream. Police are not ruling out the possibility that the suspect may have wanted to use the body parts for muti purposes. – African Eye News Service