A Philippi woman believes Amahle Quku would still be alive if the police had arrested Leonard Mzingeli last year after he allegedly raped her.
Grace Mufadu, 25, says she was raped, stabbed and left for dead in October, allegedly by the same man arrested for 17-year-old Amahle’s murder last month.
“He was not stabbing me, he was ‘slaughtering’ me on the neck while he raped me. He stabbed at the back and on my arms. I called for help, but no one came to my rescue,” the young woman tells the Daily Voice.
FAILED: Rape victim Grace Mufadu, 25, says she was left for dead in October
Grace said Mzingeli, 25, first saw her when she went to the shop.
He greeted her, then later that night he allegedly attacked her with a knife when she was walking on her own.
“I was in the hospital from 26 October till 1 November. Police and social workers visited me and promised to take up my case,” she says.
But she says after she was discharged, no one came to follow up with her.
SEE: Grace was ‘slaughtered’
“I saw his pictures on Facebook after the murder of Amahle and I felt that Amahle would still be alive if the police had arrested him when he raped me,” the young mother says.
The Grade 11 schoolgirl’s naked body was discovered among long grass in Albert Luthuli Street in Brown’s Farm on 20 June.
BRUTALLY KILLED: Amahle Quku, 17
Grace, who has a three-year-old daughter, says she went to the Nyanga Police Station last month to inquire about her case and it was only then that she gave a statement.
“The police failed Amahle, they failed me and the detectives who were there did not understand why my case was never investigated.”
A cop, who asked not to be named, confirmed that there is a docket for the 2019 case “gathering dust”.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana did not reply to queries about the case.
She confirmed that the matter was reported to Nyanga SAPS on 27 June 2020 and a rape case is now under investigation.
Mzingeli is being remanded in Pollsmoor after he abandoned his bail application at the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court and will appear again on 6 October.