Community erupts after missing child’s body found in shallow grave
Mitchells Plain community members reacted with fury when the naked body of a six-year-old missing girl was found buried in a shallow grave in the backyard of a house in De La Rey Street, Eastridge, on Sunday.
Six-year-old Stacey Adams was reported missing at Mitchells Plain police station by her grandmother on Sunday afternoon.
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The child was last seen on Saturday morning when she left her grandmother’s home to visit her mother, who lives in a Wendy house in the same street.
SAPS members, assisted by the Neighbourhood Watches, Street Committees, Sector Crime Forum members and the Community Policing Forum immediately launched a search for Stacey.
Members of the community in De La Rey Street alerted the search party to soft soil on the ground at a house in the street.
Upon investigation, searchers discovered the unidentified body of a child in a shallow grave. While police were questioning a male who lives at the address, community members became aggressive and made an attempt to harm the 25-year-old man.
The man has been arrested and is expected to appear in a Mitchells Plain court soon.
The crowd pelted police with stones and petrol bombed the house where the grim discovery was made. There are also reports of live ammunition being fired by members of the public.
Police used teargas, rubber bullets and flash bombs to disperse the angry mob who has razed the house where more than a dozen people lived. A charge of public violence is being investigated.
While the body of the child is yet to be identified, Stacey’s relatives have confirmed that her clothing was found on the scene. – IOL
