The couple died over the Christmas holidays. | Photo: Facebook/Wynand van Niekerk
A lesbian couple in South Africa who were raped and murdered last year were allegedly burned with petrol and soaked in acid.
Police discovered Joey and Anisha van Niekerk dead after they were raped and killed in Mooinooi, South Africa.
Lesbian couple ‘set on fire and soaked in acid’ during murder
South African news site eNCA now reports that the couple were raped and hung in a container at the farm of the accused after they were kidnapped.
Their bodies were soaked with acid and burnt with petrol. Their remains were put inside a bag and discarded at a nearby mountain.
Authorities arrested eight people in association with the crime.
Jack Mokotedi, 18; Maruschka Opperman, 18; Mercia Witney Van Rooi, 21; Aaron Sithole, 23; Vincent Strydom, 29; Moses Rakubu, 33; Alex Mudau, 36; and Koos Strydom, 53are all standing trial for the murder of the couple.
On 10 December, the women left town to attend a funeral. However, when they never arrived in Pretoria and neither did they return home, police launched an investigation and search for them.
First, authorities found their abandoned car on 16 December. Then, on 28 December, they found the van Niekerks’ charred remains.
Anisha’s brother, Wynand, called the recent weeks ‘nothing less than a nightmare’.
He also posted a tribute to Facebook on 17 January.
Goeiemiddag julle. Dit is nou so net oor die 4 weke sedert my sussie en Joey “weggeraak” het. Ek voel dit weerens sterk…
Posted by Wynand van Niekerk on Wednesday, January 17, 2018
In January, the man thought to be behind the murder said he was “good friends” with the couple who regularly visited him at his shop. He also claims that police tortured and assaulted him into giving a confession.
The case is postponed to 14 March for further hearing.
This is because defence lawyers argued that the court did not have jurisdiction to hear their bail applications.