Durban — Two brothers charged with the murder and attempted murder of two Phoenix police sergeants claimed in the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court yesterday that they were assaulted by police.
Nkosikhona and Kusakwendoda Luthuli are alleged to have shot and killed Sibongile Thelma Mbanjwa in 2021, while she was in the company of Sergeant W S Dlungwana, in a parked vehicle on Ndwedwe Road in Verulam.
The Luthuli brothers claimed during a trial within a trial that detectives from the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI-Hawks) assaulted them before being taken to the Durban North police station, where their statements were taken.
Last October, the trial against the brothers began where evidence was led, including statements the brothers had made confessing to the murder and attempted murder, as well as an attempted robbery with aggravated circumstances. After the brothers disputed their confession statements, the matter was forced to have a trial within a trial, looking at the validity of these statements.
Leading evidence yesterday in court were two members of the DPCIHawks, one who took the men’s warning statement at the police station and another who was present when they were arrested at a petrol garage in uThongathi.
“Accused one will tell this court that on the day of his arrest you and other members of the Hawks after leaving the garage stopped at an open field and assaulted him and accused two. Further, he will say that he was assaulted with pliers that were used to squeeze and twist his testicle,” said Amith Luckan representing Nkosikhona.
He had been cross-examining Hawks sergeant Nkosinathi Memela who denied these allegations saying “that never happened.”
Yvonne Singh, who is representing Kusakwendoda, claimed her client was slapped across the face by Memela at the garage.
The hearing continues next week.
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