Five members of a family in Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape, were viciously murdered earlier this week, and murmurs from the community suggest the evil act was allegedly motivated by witchcraft.
Lusikisiki family murders: Here are the latest updates
A few days into the manhunt for the suspects responsible for executing the family, including a nine-year-old child, residents of Luphondo have already linked the mass murders to longstanding paranoia about dark magic in Lusikisiki.
Speaking to eNCA, community leaders revealed that in the days leading up to the brutal family murders, residents had allegedly held a meeting about witchcraft activity linked to a woman from the house that was shot up.
While, at this juncture, police have yet to establish such links to the mass murders, ward councillors stressed that witchcraft paranoia as epidemic levels in Lusikisiki, and mob attacks on women suspected to be involved in dark magic were very common in rural Eastern Cape.
Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana confirmed evidence gathered thus far indicates that the family murders took place at approximately 01:00 on Monday, 6 March 2023.
It’s believed an unknown number of suspects broke into the family’s home and executed five victims.
Miraculously, two children, aged eight and one, managed to escape the mass murder scene undetected and sought refuge at a neighbour’s house.
When police arrived at the scene, they found the bodies of five victims aged between nine and 78 with multiple gunshot wounds.
“They were declared dead at the crime scene. Two children aged one and eight escaped unharmed. The motive for the attack is unknown at this stage,” the police confirmed.
Four days into the mass murder investigation, Lusikisiki police are nowhere closer to establishing a solid lead on the suspects. Details on the conditions of the two surviving children was unknown at the time this article was published.