QUINTESSENCE OF EVIL

By Omoseye Bolaji

The poor young man was not only chased and hounded at the graveyard; he was ruthlessly stabbed many times. Then his head was cut off. And his face was stripped from his head! Thereafter his body parts were defiled in the most horrific fashion. Later, the police were to find diverse parts of his body all over the place – in the local graveyard, garden.

In case you are thinking: this is yet another unsavoury case of African muti (juju) black magic; you will be wrong! Very. The crime enumerated briefly here was actually perpetrated by a white woman; a gorgeous young South African white woman!

It is a harrowing, horrific, exceedingly shocking incident that continues to shock South Africans. The brief facts are as follows: a young white man , Van Eck thought he was finding love on the internet when he corresponded with a lovely young white woman, Chane van Heerden (20). The lady told him they should meet in person at a graveyard one night in the town of Welkom.

Never for a moment did the man think that he could be walking into danger. Grave danger! He was rather exhilarated and intoxicated at the prospect of meeting the lovely young lady in the flesh, at night! Hence the poor gentleman went to the graveyard…and that was the end of him.

As the girl, Chane van Heerden, confessed in court later, she and a male accomplice (Maartens Van Der Merwe (24) at the graveyard had attacked, ran after, and stabbed Van Eck many times. Then they had decapitated him and cut him to pieces. Unspeakable things had been done to his face and torso before his body parts were buried and even stored in a refrigerator.

It was incredibly shocking for South Africans to hear the young lady, Chane van Heerden, confessing to what they had done to van Eck and his body. She herself had “skinned his face and enjoyed doing so”

Suggestions of Satanism, Cultism etc were made by many “pundits” to explain why a young lady like Chane van Heerden could have done such horrific things to another human being. Yet all the parties involved were white…

For example, South African essayist and writer, Mzwandile Soqaga has said: “You wonder what the white perpetrators - the young woman and the man gained whilst doing this terrible thing to another human being. It appears it was done just for the macabre thrills!”

Indeed in the maleficent world of muti in the black African world, such horrific murders – including the mutilation and appropriation of human body parts are perpetrated for a specific purpose; mainly because of the belief that such violated parts can augment or enhance material wealth, bring good luck etc

But in this case, everybody was baffled as to why Van Eck had been so cruelly dealt with. Anyway, the young lady Chane van Heerden, has been given a lengthy sentence in jail which by South African standards is more or less tantamount to a life sentence…