Police have arrested a former Currie Cup rugby player over three axe murders allegedly to avenge the gang-rape and HIV infection of his daughter, media said on Wednesday.
Police arrested the 34-year-old man, who played for the Blue Bulls in the Vodacom Cup and Currie Cup, in Durban in the early hours of Tuesday, Afrikaans daily Beeld reported.
One victim was decapitated and others hacked in the neck, said the Cape Argus, which quoted a man who escaped an attack last week after being confronted by a man who accused him of being a rapist and infecting his daughter.
Axe and bloodied clothing
“As the axe came down towards my head, I ducked and it scratched my stomach,” Khangelani Mdluli (27) told the afternoon daily, saying the man pulled out an axe after Mdluli asked who he and his daughter were.
Police found an axe and bloodied clothing when taking the man into custody.
“When they pounced on him they found an axe, which we believe is the murder weapon, clothes with blood stains and a hired car that we suspect he could have used during the alleged attacks,” the Sowetan quoted police spokesperson Vincent Mdunge as saying.
“He will be charged formally with three counts of murder with aggravating circumstances and one of attempted murder.”
The man who was not named in reports will appear in court this week. — AFP