Murder accused changes testimony again

Date: 13 February 2015 By: Isabel Venter

Freddy Azwitamisi Tshikhudo (39), the accused in the infamous “hand case”, has changed his version of events for a third time.

His murder trial started last week in the Louis Trichardt Circuit High Court. He is facing 12 criminal charges of violence, which include three counts of rape, two counts of kidnapping and one count of murder.  

Tshikhudo was accused of raping two victims after he was arrested for the violent death of Rumbidzai Manyere (36). He allegedly killed Manyere after also raping her. Her right arm, both eyes and private parts were cut off.

Manyere’s death was brought to light when Tshikhudo allegedly tried to rob the Elti Café in Eltivillas with a severed human arm during April 2013. At the time of his arrest, Tshikhudo claimed that the owners of the café, Mr Musha Isap Ali Patel (64) and his wife, Ms Hasina Muska Patel (62), were part of the plot and owed him money for killing Manyere. The charges against the Patels were withdrawn when Tshikhudo later gave another statement that cleared them from any blame.

The Patels were the first of the State’s 57 witnesses to testify in the criminal trial of Tshikhudo. Hasina testified in court that she was alone in the café when Tshikhudo entered, threatened her and demanded money. When she did not give him any money, he took a human arm from his jacket and slapped her through the face with it.

Last week,  however, Tshikhudo reverted to his original story. Tshikhudo stated, by means of his advocate, that Hasina was a liar and that it was she who retrieved the arm from a fridge and threatened him. This was Tshikhudo’s original version of events, which led to the arrest of the Patels in the first place. He retracted his statement shortly after his arrest, however, and the Patels were cleared of all charges.

According to his advocate, Tshikhudo was waiting for food that he had ordered from Hasina, and when he enquired why it was taking too long, she got the arm out of her fridge. Noticing the arm, Tshikhudo apparently got such a fright that he fainted. When he allegedly regained consciousness, he fell back on his training as security guard and, because he “luckily had a pair of handcuffs with him, he tied her [Hasina] up and screamed for help.”

Hasina denied everything and insisted that Tshikhudo had attacked her.

After her testimony, several members of the Makhado SAPS testified for the State about evidence they collected during their investigation of Tshikhudo. The investigating officer, detective Capt Ndou, testified that Tshikhudo first told the police that the Patels were his accomplices, and then later retracted this statement after he had shown the police where to find Manyere’s body in the thick bushes at the  northern-most end of Celliers Street.

After the court heard the evidence of the police officials, the case was postponed until this week. The case was to continue on Friday (today), and at the time of our going to press, there was a trial-within-a-trial to decide which forensic evidence would be submitted before the court.

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Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

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