Boiling water robbery accused denies torturing victims
One of the men accused of pouring boiling water on victims of a home robbery in KZN, has denied being the torturer, despite having been identified by witnesses.
|||Durban - One of the men accused of pouring boiling water on victims of a home robbery in Albert Falls, denied being the torturer and told the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday he had no idea a robbery was in progress when he entered the home.
Mvusi Dlamini, 30, of uMlazi, said he went along with the plan and only carried goods out of the house because he feared for his life.
Dlamini has been charged alongside Lucky Mbonambi, 28, and Siyabonga Mchunu, 52.
They are on trial charged with six counts of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, robbery with aggravating circumstances and the theft of a motor vehicle. They have pleaded not guilty.
The incident occurred in February 2012 when it is alleged the gang planned to rob Ahmed Lakhi, a businessman in the Albert Falls area. To execute their plan, they needed a vehicle, so they allegedly stole a Toyota RunX from Jennifer Ambler in Durban.
On February 26, 2012, the Lakhi family were hosting relatives at their home. The robbers stormed the family’s house and held them at gunpoint.
To induce them to hand over their valuables, the robbers set a kettle to boil and poured the water on to four adults and two children - Lakhi’s 2-year-old son and his 10-year old niece.
They then made off with more than R100 000 in cash, cellphones, jewellery, bank cards and a 9mm pistol.
Testifying in his defence on Tuesday, Dlamini told the court he was a second-year DUT office management student at the time of his arrest and worked part-time as a mechanic. At the time of the incident, Dlamini said he had “lost” a vehicle belonging to a criminal identified as “BhokoBhoko”, who has since died. He was shot dead by police in a botched cash heist at a Richmond bank in 2014.
In a bid to replace the vehicle, Dlamini said he travelled to Pietermaritzburg on February 26, 2012, on Bhoko-Bhoko’s instructions.
Once in Pietermaritzburg, he met BhokoBhoko and several others. Dlamini said he got into a Toyota RunX, and two cars then proceeded to the Lakhi home.
“I was sitting in the car and I wasn’t sure what was going on. BhokoBhoko told me to go into the house and carry out whatever I could,” Dlamini said.
“BhokoBhoko had a reputation for violence; I was afraid for my life,” he explained.
Dlamini has been identified by members of the visiting family who had boiling water poured over them, as the man who inflicted the torture. But he denied this.
The trial continues.
Daily News