Waterloo man in court over rape, murder of 7-year-old girl
The State alleged that Moodley had sent Amanda to a nearby tuck shop to buy him cigarettes before luring her into his home where he raped and murdered her. Picture: IANS The State alleged that Moodley had sent Amanda to a nearby tuck shop to buy him cigarettes before luring her into his home where he raped and murdered her. Picture: IANS
Durban - Flip-flops and clothing found at Laston Moodley's house two days after the murder of 7-year-old Waterloo girl, Sithembile Amanda Myaka, were identified by the dead girl's aunt in the Durban High Court as belonging to her niece.
Moodley, 26, is accused of raping Amanda before stabbing her at his home in Hammonds Farm, Waterloo, in the Verulam area on July 28, 2018.
The State alleges that Moodley had sent Amanda to a nearby tuck shop to buy him cigarettes.
When she returned, he allegedly lured her into his flat by promising her a chocolate. Once inside, he allegedly raped and stabbed her, leaving her for dead between blocks of flats.
She died two days later in hospital.
Amanda’s aunt, Nozipho Myaka, told the court on Monday that the clothes, depicted in pictures taken by the police at the scene, were those Amanda wore that day.
“She wore a pink pair of leggings, a yellowish top with Barbie dolls, and pink and black flip-flops,” she said.
From the photo album, Myaka identified the flip-flops as the same pair that Amanda wore that day.
She said she received a call that day informing her that her niece had been stabbed. The following day, she received a call from a police officer summoning her to Moodley’s house.
“On my arrival there, the police showed me a pair of flip-flops and asked if they belonged to Amanda. I identified them as Amanda’s. I also told the police that Amanda was found naked and that was when the police started searching the house for her clothes. They found Amanda’s clothes inside a brown KFC packet on the kitchen floor,” said Myaka.
From the testimony of Constable Prashan Ramsuran, one of the two constables who arrived first at the scene, it emerged that they had seen the flip-flops when they attended the scene the day of the incident.
“I noticed small shoes on the floor. I noticed them because I already knew that the victim was a child. At that stage, I did not know that the child was found naked.”
Ramsuran said when he arrived at the scene there were about 100 people gathered outside Moodley’s house, shouting in isiZulu.
Before calling for back-up, they knocked on the door and windows, but there was no response.
He said he had to break the door to gain entry to the house, but did not see a patch of blood on the floor downstairs until the police photographer took pictures of the scene.
Ramsuran said there was no sign of a break-in: the electronics such as the television were still plugged in and the doors had no signs of damage.
“I kicked open the bedroom door upstairs and I found Moodley on his knees. He held his one hand to his face and he was bleeding,” he said.
Cross-examining the policeman, advocate Manoj Hardeo said Moodley would say he was a victim of housebreaking.
“He will say he had been out drinking when he came home to find community members gathered outside his home and the door of his house was open. Fearing for his safety, he went inside and locked the door. He will say that he was injured when police assaulted him,” said Hardeo.
The trial is ongoing.