https://en.sputniknews.africa/20230423/police-reportedly-identify-body-found-in-escaped-south-african-rapist-besters-cell-1058794602.html
Police Reportedly Identify Body Found in Escaped South African Rapist Bester's Cell
Police Reportedly Identify Body Found in Escaped South African Rapist Bester's Cell
Sputnik Africa
The burnt body discovered in Bester's cell at the Mangaung Correctional Center, in Bloemfontein, South Africa, has been identified as Katlego Bereng, local media has reported, citing police.
2023-04-23T11:39+0200
2023-04-23T11:39+0200
2023-04-23T11:39+0200
sub-saharan africa
southern africa
south africa
prison break
prison
imprisonment
investigation
rape
police
victims
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.africa/img/07e7/04/17/1058794735_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_af4ed553142504da34a9ee2ab198901b.jpg
The burnt body discovered in Bester's cell at the Mangaung Correctional Center in Bloemfontein, South Africa, has been identified as Katlego Bereng, local media has reported, citing police.Post-mortem examinations revealed that Bereng died from blunt force trauma to the head. Therefore, he was already dead before the fire broke out in the cell. National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe told media that the body had been identified and that his family has been informed. According to media reports, Bereng, who would have been 32 next month, lived with his grandmother in Bloemfontein. His father, Batho Mpholo, who lives in Tembisa, east of Johannesburg, stated that he lost touch with Bereng last spring, as he stopped answering his calls and messages. He also noted that his son "all of a sudden stopped posting on social media."Mpholo recalled Bereng's mother Monica Matsie telling him that she had been asked to have DNA testing done as a body had been found, and police suspected it could be their son. Later, they were informed that the body was that of their missing son.Thabo Bester, a convicted South African rapist and murderer, was at large for almost a year after police believed that he had died by setting himself on fire in his prison cell in May 2022. However, DNA tests conducted in March this year revealed that the remains found in the cell belonged to another person. Following these new autopsy findings, a manhunt was launched. One of the country's most-wanted fugitives, Bester was arrested in Tanzania and subsequently deported to South Africa on a specially chartered plane. His girlfriend Nandipha Magudumana, her father Zolile Sekeleni, and several others, including a suspended prison warden, are charged as accomplices in Bester's escape. Also known as the "Facebook rapist", Bester was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012 for rape, robbery and murder. He allegedly used the social media platform to lure female victims, pretending that he ran a media business, before assaulting them. Now he is expected to face new charges in connection with his jailbreak.
https://en.sputniknews.africa/20230413/south-africas-rapist-deported-from-tanzania-after-jailbreak-with-fake-death--1058584875.html
southern africa
south africa
Sputnik Africa
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
2023
News
en_EN
Sputnik Africa
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
Sputnik Africa
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
southern africa, south africa, rapist, murder, murderer, arrest, rapist thabo bester, most-wanted fugitive, tanzania, manhaunt
southern africa, south africa, rapist, murder, murderer, arrest, rapist thabo bester, most-wanted fugitive, tanzania, manhaunt
Police Reportedly Identify Body Found in Escaped South African Rapist Bester's Cell
Last month, South Africans were shocked by the news of Thabo Bester's jailbreak; the convicted murderer and rapist pulled it off using a fake death ploy. Bester was thought to be dead after setting himself alight last year, but recent investigations indicated that the remains found in his cell belonged to someone else.
The burnt body discovered in Bester's cell at the Mangaung Correctional Center in Bloemfontein, South Africa, has been identified as Katlego Bereng, local media has reported, citing police.
Post-mortem examinations revealed that Bereng died from blunt force trauma to the head. Therefore, he was already dead before the fire broke out in the cell. National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe told media that the body had been identified and that his family has been informed.
According to media reports, Bereng, who would have been 32 next month, lived with his grandmother in Bloemfontein. His father, Batho Mpholo, who lives in Tembisa, east of Johannesburg, stated that he lost touch with Bereng last spring, as he stopped answering his calls and messages. He also noted that his son "all of a sudden stopped posting on social media."
"This is devastating news," he said as cited by local media, adding: "We have been asked to come to see the body. Then we will be going to meet with police, who said they'd give us more information once we get there."
Mpholo recalled Bereng's mother Monica Matsie telling him that she had been asked to have DNA testing done as a body had been found, and police suspected it could be their son. Later, they were informed that the body was that of their missing son.
Thabo Bester, a convicted South African rapist and murderer, was at large for almost a year after police believed that he had died by setting himself on fire in his prison cell in May 2022. However, DNA tests
conducted in March this year revealed that the remains found in the cell belonged to another person. Following these new autopsy findings, a manhunt was launched.
One of the country's most-wanted fugitives, Bester
was arrested in Tanzania and subsequently deported to South Africa on a specially chartered plane. His girlfriend Nandipha Magudumana, her father Zolile Sekeleni, and several others, including a suspended prison warden, are charged as accomplices in Bester's escape.
Also known as the "Facebook rapist", Bester was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012 for rape, robbery and murder. He allegedly used the social media platform to lure female victims, pretending that he ran a media business, before assaulting them. Now he is expected to face new charges in connection with his jailbreak.
