A 10-YEAR-OLD girl was raped then hanged during a robbery at her home, the Madadeni high court in KwaZulu-Natal heard yesterday.
A 10-YEAR-OLD girl was raped then hanged during a robbery at her home, the Madadeni high court in KwaZulu-Natal heard yesterday.
Hegendhri Narainsamy was forced to stand on a chair with a rope round her neck and the other end tied to a trellis above her.
The chair was then removed and she was strangled, the prosecution told the court.
The child and her mother, Ranjini, were attacked as they arrived at their Newcastle home in September 2008. Her father Selvan, a builder, was in Taiwan at the time.
One of the accused, Siphamandla Nkosi, 22, had worked for Selvan and decided to rob the family. He allegedly got Mxolisi Masondo, 19, to help him
Both men are from Osizwweni near Newcastle. They allegedly tied up the mother, tied the child's hands behind her back and demanded money. Ranjini did not know where the money was, the men then ransacked the house.
Nkosi took the girl to a bedroom where he allegedly raped her twice and then hanged her. Both mother and daughter died of asphyxiation.
The two men took a safe containing a pistol, money and jewellery and then fled in a Toyota Tazz belonging to the family.
The men face charges of murder, rape and the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The case is set down for two weeks. - Sapa