Angry Khayelitsha residents marched to the local police station after a man who is suspected of raping and killing a woman was released.
Yanga Dolly Mlanjeni’s, 32, lifeless body was found in her Site B shack on Saturday morning, after she had been undressed and raped, allegedly by her neighbour.
Her family says while some details of her death are unclear, they suspect she was smothered with a pillow.
Her brother Zubenathi says: “She was either murdered on Friday night or the early hours of Saturday morning, but we were informed on that morning that she was unresponsive in her shack.
“Our neighbours came to tell us about the murder, when we got to her place she was on her bed. She was faced down on her pillow, her hands were on her sides, her shorts were pulled down to her knees. Her panties were halfway down, it looked like the killer tried to pull them up.
“The shack didn’t look ransacked, her cellphones were still there with her wallet, so it was not a robbery incident.”
Zubenathi explains that the mother of one spent Friday night drinking with a friend who went looking for her the next day and discovered her body.
Zubenathi says: “He called her name and she didn’t respond. The window was opened and he put his arm through and tapped her arm and felt it was cold, and felt for her pulse and couldn’t feel anything. He then informed the neighbours about it.”
Zubenathi says the suspect was picked up by the police, but was released less than 30 minutes later. A witness who asked not to be named said he arrived at his home around 2am on Saturday and found the suspect sleeping in his bed.
The witness says: “When I asked him why he was there, he told me that he was waiting for Dolly.
“I chased him out and went to sleep and in the morning I woke up and found out that Dolly had been murdered.”
On Monday, over 100 angry residents gathered outside Khayelitsha Police Station, asking why the suspect had been released. But Sanco secretary, Ludwe Vara, explained the police are still investigating.
Anyone with information is kindly requested to call Crime Stop on 08600 10111.