How a community united with police to catch a killer
Tip-offs from the community led police to the hideout of a child rapist and murderer who was this week sentenced to two life terms behind bars.
|||Durban - Constable Robin Moodley, the policeman who arrested convicted rapist and murderer Lindokuhle Mthethwa, is relieved there is one less “monster” on the streets.
Mthethwa, 22, was arrested at a relative’s house after he fled his home in Etete near KwaDukuza, on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast. The community told the police of Mthethwa’s hiding place in Ethembeni, near Groutville. He was arrested within 24 hours.
Moodley, of Umhlali SAPS, said he was satisfied his hard work had paid off after he testified in court during a trial that dragged on for months.
He said the accused killed 5-year-old Velile fearing that she would identify him. “His lawyer made a fuss about DNA results which implicated Mthethwa. A second batch of DNA samples had to be sent to the lab. After a few months, it came back matching the accused’s blood sample.”
The trial was first heard at Umhlali Magistrate Court but was transferred to KwaDukuza. Moodley commended the community for its input in alerting the police to the accused’s whereabouts. He said the community allegedly linked him to the murder of an old woman in the area but there was not enough evidence to charge him.
“If it had not been for the community policing forum and residents it would have taken us a little longer to arrest him. He denied the rape and murder of the girl, but we persisted in arresting him. He was charged with murder, rape, kidnapping and housebreaking.”
Moodley said after the gruesome discovery of the girl’s body he felt compelled to get the accused convicted. He said he was given a specific mandate to prioritise the case until it reached its end.
“This was a young girl who could not protect herself from a monster. I was heartbroken after seeing her lifeless body. The amount of evidence against the accused was overwhelming but there were delays in the case. The community ran out of patience. They started putting a lot of pressure on us, and each time the case went to court people arrived in numbers to protest,” he said.
Moodley said Mthethwa got what he deserved when the judge handed down two life sentences for rape and murder. He was further sentenced to five years for housebreaking plus another five years for kidnapping.
“He was not remorseful.”
Sunday Tribune