MURDER accused Ntokozo Zikhali was allegedly assaulted by cops during interrogation.
Zikhali said this as he took to the witness box in the High Court sitting in the Benoni Magistrates Court, Ekurhuleni, on Wednesday, 2 August.
The accused of the murder of four-year-old Bokgabo Poo said he was suffocated with a plastic, punched in the chest and kicked by police officers.
Bokgabo's mutilated body was found in a veld in Wattville, Ekurhuleni, after she went missing on 10 October 2022 while playing with a friend in Masoleng Park.
He said he sustained injuries on the chest, knees, and right arm when cops assaulted him but couldn't say how many cops assaulted him.
"I was taken to an interrogation room, where I was asked many questions about the missing girl. That was the first time I encountered torture.
"One of the cops covered my face with plastic, and I suffocated.
"I couldn't bear the pain. I gave cops the addresses of my friends and people because I wanted the assault to stop," Zikhali said.
He said his private parts were also squeezed by a male police officer.
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In another incident, he said a female officer kicked him with boots on his leg.
"There's an incident which happened, but I didn't tell my lawyer. I remember that while I was in the police cells, one officer told me I must not set foot in Wattiville.
"He told me if he can see me there, he would shoot me," Zikhali said.
The state prosecutor Eric Sihlangu said assault is an offence and asked Zikhali does he know who assaulted him.
Zikhali said he doesn't know who assaulted him.
"I met the officers for the first time, and I don't know their names, and some were not wearing police uniforms," he said.
Sihlangu asked Zikhali if the state witnesses investigating officer Sergeant Kaizer Mbele and Lieutenant Colonel Eugine Scheepers assaulted him.
"They didn't assault me. In fact, Scheepers was open to me, and he even asked me about the wounds on my neck," he said.
Schepers told the court that he received a call from officers on 14 October while he was at the Actonville Copshop that Zikhali was willing to point out the whereabouts of Bokgabo Poo.
Scheepers said he introduced himself to Zikhali and explained to him about his rights.
"While I was telling him about his rights, he interrupted me and told me he knows his rights, but I continued to explain about his rights," Scheepers said.
Zikhali confirmed that his rights were explained to him but couldn't remember some of them.
The trial continues Thursday, 3 August.
