NO PROGRESS IN LESBIAN MURDERS

While mourners demanded justice at the weekend funeral of lesbian couple, Sizakele Sigasa (34) and Salome Masooa (23), police have told Mambaonline that there are no developments in catching the killers.

The joint funeral of the two women was held on Saturday 14 July at Bapedi hall in Meadowlands reported Behind the Mask. Hundreds of emotional mourners paid their last respects, while angrily demanding justice, singing and holding placards expressing their outrage at the murders.

While some spoke of the need for the authorities to take action to ensure the safety of women and gays and lesbians, others focused on the lives of the victims.

Nthabiseng Masooa, a family member of one of the deceased, said that, “The death of these children made me to be born again. It made me realise that we, parents should not expect our children to live the way we want them to live, they have a choice. All people are different and let us acknowledge and respect that difference.”

Contradicting earlier reports that the police were hot on the trail of the killers, police spokesperson, Superintendent Nkwashu, told Mambaonline on Tuesday that “there are no developments in the case.”

Nkwashu denied having told SAPA last week that police were close to arresting the suspects, or that a major breakthrough in the case was in the offing, as was reported by the news agency. All she was prepared to say was that “the investigation is still ongoing.”

Police have called on the community to come forward with information on the murders by calling Investigating Officer Detective Captain Wayne Ellapen on 082 575 1882 or anonymously on the police’s Crime Stop number 08600 10111.

Gay and women’s rights organisations believe that the double murder was a hate crime based on the women’s sexual orientation, although police have said that there is no evidence to indicate this.

Sigasa and Masooa’s bodies were discovered by a jogger in a field in Meadowlands, Soweto, on Sunday 8 July. According to various reports, the couple, who were romantically involved, had been tortured, and possibly raped, before they were shot dead.