/ 26 September 2007

Sugar-cane killing accused to apply for bail

The case against two men and a woman accused of abducting and murdering five women whose bodies were found in sugar-cane fields on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast was on Wednesday remanded to October 10.

The initial appearance of the three on Wednesday was heard in camera after Umzinto magistrate Giel van Aarde granted the state’s application for this.

State prosecutor Christelle Rossouw said police still needed to carry out identification parades and that any sight of these men by the public or the media would jeopardise police investigations.

”They [the accused] may say that they were seen in court,” she said.

Granting the application, Van Aarde said investigations were at a sensitive stage and that he was convinced that the public did not want the investigations to be jeopardised.

After the public and press were ordered to leave the small courtroom, Rossouw told the press that there were three accused — two men and a woman.

Earlier this week, police said they had arrested five people in connection with the badly decomposed bodies that were found in a sugar-cane field adjoining Umzinto’s Shayamoya township.

After the three had appeared, Rossouw said that they told the court that they would be seeking legal aid and applying for bail. The bail hearing will be heard on October 10 at the Umzinto Magistrate’s Court.

Rossouw said two of the accused are 36 years old and the third is in his 30s.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Zandra Hechter told the media that another two of those who were arrested had alibis and were only staying at the house where the arrests were made. They had been released.

Nearly 300 people had gathered outside the court, shouting, singing and protesting. Some of their banners read; ”Bring back the death penalty. Prison is a five-star hotel” and ”We are tired of being raped”.

There was a heavy police presence and several high-profile people, including Inkatha Freedom Party MP Narend Singh, stopped at the courtroom. — Sapa