Staff Reporter
A man suspected to be behind the disappearance and death of nine-year-old Boipelo Mesi from Maokeng in Kroonstad was fatally assaulted by community members on Saturday afternoon after the girl’s body was allegedly found in his shack.
Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sam Makhele said Boipelo’s body was found after some children playing on the street reported a suspicious bad smell to their parents.
He said community members who have been assisting in the search for Boipelo since she disappeared almost two weeks ago immediately went to investigate.
The shack is not very far from the victim’s house.
“They went to the shack and found it locked,” Makhele said in a statement.
“(They) forced entry and opened the wardrobe where the smell was coming from and found the body . . . then alerted the police.”
However, the situation took a sudden turn while the police were still processing the crime scene when the man said to be the owner of the shack suddenly appeared.
Makhele said community members immediately pounced on him and severely assaulted him.
“The police tried to intervene but were also attacked,” the police spokesperson said.
“Ultimately, they managed to take him out of the volatile situation, but was later declared dead by the emergency medical services.”
Boipelo was last seen playing with friends on the street near her house on September 1 at about 1pm.
Her mother, Lynette Sesele, told the police at the time that she went to visit a friend in Phomolong township leaving the girl playing with friends.
On her return, she said her daughter was nowhere to be found.
And when she asked the girl’s friends, they told her Boipelo was talking to a tall man with a blue overall and both of them left for the tuck shop and never came back.
Free State Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane appealed to people to exercise restraint when dealing with suspects and not to take the law into their hands.
“We appeal to the community to be calm and give the family time to mourn the loss of their daughter,” she said.
The situation in the area is still tense and police are closely monitoring it.
