Times Of Swaziland: Lunatic stabs ten pupils, kills one

Lunatic stabs ten pupils, kills one
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Musa Nhleko on 17/07/2009 00:00:00


NCABANENI – Ten pupils were yesterday morning stabbed and one of them killed
by a raving lunatic who stormed Ncabaneni High School.
The aggressor, Sicelo Dlamini (22), was later beaten to death by a mob.
His fatal victim was a female Form One pupil whom he stabbed on her back. Two of
the nine pupils have been admitted at the Mankayane Government Hospital while
the rest were treated and discharged.
The drama, which began at around 7.30am lasted for over 30 minutes.
He is said to have passed through the school gate armed with a short spear and a
knife concealed within his clothes and headed for the Form One classrooms.
According to eyewitnesses, he is said to have entered a classroom that had no
teacher as classes had not begun and produced the weapons. “He threatened us
saying; phumani la! (Go away from here). We panicked and ran out of the
classroom but he managed to stab some of the pupils who could not get to the
door quickly while others escaped through windows.
Other pupils were stabbed outside,” said a shocked pupil. An English teacher,
Nakekelo Nkhambule, said she was in Form Three teaching composition during her
early morning classes when she heard noise coming from the Form One classroom.
“I asked a female pupil to go and check what was happening and she told me
that someone was stabbing pupils outside. I went to see for myself and what I
saw shocked me,” said Nkhambule.
She said when she saw Dlamini stabbing the pupils, she thought, it was one of
the pupils as he was wearing khaki pants. She then ordered all the Form Threes
out of the classroom and went to the staff room where she found other teachers.
Later the Deputy Principal, Thando Sibanyoni, and another male teacher were seen
helping the Form One girl who had serious stab wounds. A van, according to
Nkhambule, was found to transport her, but when she was placed on a sleeping mat
and a kanga, she noticed that the pupil was no longer breathing. They rushed her
to hospital, but there she was certified dead on arrival.
The other nine pupils were rushed to the nearby Ncabaneni Clinic which is
situated a few metres from the school before they were transferred to Mankayane
in an ambulance, which had been called by the nurses. An angry mob then quickly
gathered and attacked Dlamini with all sorts of missiles injuring him so much
that he stopped fighting back.
He was rushed to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial hospital by the police, where he
was also confirmed dead on arrival. Police Public Relations Officer
Superintendent Vusi Masuku confirmed the incident, adding that police were
investigating the murder of the pupil, and Dlamini’s subsequent death.
...why the lunatic stormed school
NCABANENI – Sicelo Dlamini is said to have told one pupil that he was going to
the school because he wanted to propose love to one pupil he loved so much.
According to a teacher, the female pupil Dlamini wanted to see is in Form Five
and when a pupil asked him how he was going to talk to her because she was in
class, he allegedly said he was going to ask for permission to speak to her from
the school Principal, and if he refused he would sort him out.
Another pupil, who also saw him inside the school premises, is said to have
greeted him and when he asked him what he had come for, he told him that he was
there to sort them out. This was before he went into the Form One classroom
where he started stabbing pupils.
...he is stoned to death by mob
NCABANENI – The armed pupils’ attacker was stoned by an angry mob from
classrooms to the clinic until he was unconscious and later died.
After seeing that one of their classmates had been stabbed to death, they went
for Sicelo Dlamini who they first stoned until he was pulled away by teachers.
Dlamini is said to have infuriated the pupils so much that they used all sorts
of missiles to assault and corner him at the nearby clinic where he wanted to
hide.
“He appeared from a corner at the school, but he was turned back by the stones
that were pelted at him by the pupils,” a pupil said.
By this time instead of Dlamini chasing the pupils, they chased him and he went
into one classrooms where he locked himself inside.
The pupils continued throwing stones and they broke the door and windows in
search for him. “After breaking the door they gained entry and once inside,
Sicelo used a board to cover himself and he managed to go out while still
holding the spear. He ran out of the school boundary and went to the nurses’
quarters where he failed to open the door to one of the houses.
He is said to have then darted to the clinic and tried to push open the front
door but found that it was also locked.
The pupils, who were in pursuit, found and assaulted him until he was
unconscious.