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by Ayanda Njemla
05 February 2010
A LOVERS’ row at Ngqeleni has resulted in the death of an innocent 12 year old girl last Monday. The incident occurred at Jongintaba Junior Secondary School during the early hours of the morning when a man went into the school to confront his ex-girlfriend, who is a clerk there, and demanded to have a word with her. According to police, the woman refused but later gave in and stood outside the class where the man, who was later killed by an angry mob, fired several bullets at the girlfriend, a stray one of which killed the child, who was inside the classroom.
The woman suffered shots in the left leg, left thigh and left shoulder and is in a stable condition at Canzibe Hospital. Ngqeleni Senior Superintendent Dial Kettledas said two cases of murder have been opened but there is only one suspect, the community, because the killer is dead. “We arrived at the scene and found the suspect already dead, not far from the school as it was reported that the man tried to run away into the location where he was caught by community members,” said Kettledas.
School Deputy Principal Zolile Duma said they have reported the matter to the Department of Education and are mainly focusing on tightening security at the school. “The incident was a great shock to us and although it was not the school’s responsibility, we are busy in talks with the Department to make sure such incidents do not occur again in this or other schools,” said Duma.
Malibongwe Mtima, Provincial Departmental communications officer said the matter is being handled by the police and Department of Justice and, at this stage, he cannot make any comment or promises. Asked about the security measures at school, he said the matter will be looked at but advised the community to always look after their schools, especially where there are no security guards. The child’s family could not be reached but the school said funeral arrangements are in progress although they are not sure about the date and couldn’t divulge the deceased’s names at the moment. |
