Teen Accused Of South Africa Family Murders
A teenager is due in court accused of killing his mother, baby sister, brother and gran with an axe in an apparent satanic ritual.
8:56am Monday 27 May 2013
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world
Etwatwa is a settlement east of Johannesburg
A South African teenager has been arrested for allegedly hacking to death four family members with an axe, including his mother and an infant sister, in an apparent satanic attack.
The 14-year-old boy's mother, 42, was found dead in the family's corrugated iron-shack home, and the body of his three-month-old sister in a nearby field.
His 58-year-old grandmother and seven-year-old brother died in hospital.
The boy's two other sisters, aged eight and nine, ran to their neighbours during the killings and raised the alarm early on Friday morning.
The youngster, from the Etwatwa informal settlement east of Johannesburg, was captured by police within hours of fleeing the scene.
He was due to appear at Benoni Magistrates' Court on Monday where he is expected to face charges of murder.
Police have not disclosed a possible motive for the murders, but community members told Eyewitness News the killings may have been part of a satanic ritual.
The teenager's family told the radio programme they have disowned the boy.
"Even now I can't cope, because I have to take the kids and they have to stay with me," an uncle said.
"There is no other family member. They are all dead," he added.
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates - outside war zones - in the world.
Up to 16,000 people were killed between 2011 and 2012, according to official statistics.
