Anika Smit’s mother has said that, although the inquest into the gruesome death of her daughter has reopened old wounds for her, she hopes it will pull together information that might finally solve the teenager’s murder.
The inquest into Anika’s murder began this week in the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court.
Anika’s mother, Charlotte Eksteen, said some of the evidence presented at the inquest had also been an eye-opener for her.
The court has heard details of vampire parties, blood shooters and the social pecking order among teens, among other things.
Eksteen’s former husband Johan Smit has cut a lone figure throughout proceedings, sitting by himself on a bench in the sunny courtyard during breaks, clutching a brown folder.
It was he who came face to face with the terrible sight of his dead daughter on March 10 2010. Anika had stayed home from school that day because she had an ear infection. He found her with her throat slit and her hands chopped off and missing. She had been raped.
Her boyfriend at the time, Nico Venter, was initially charged in connection with her death and Johan Smit was also questioned at length.
The case against Venter was dropped and he and his wife have been in court throughout the inquest.
Venter has a legal representative who has been posing questions to witnesses.
Magistrate Pierre Wessels, who has had to ask for explanations of teen lexicon such as “Emo” and “Goth”, and the pre-WhatsApp chat service Mxit, postponed the inquest to October 8.
This came after the revelation on Friday that a member of the public had violated his order that Damian Treeby’s identity should not be revealed.
The person posted a picture of Treeby on Facebook and commented that he was a murderer.
Lifting the ban on naming Treeby, who was originally among those questioned after Anika’s death, Wessels said he was disappointed about the Facebook post because the court had given Treeby an undertaking that he could testify without fear of being identified.
Prosecutor Tania Carstens tried to have the inquest continue in camera, but Anton van Staden, representing Venter, objected because his client’s details had been splashed all over the media at the time he was considered a suspect.
An investigation into the Facebook post will be conducted.
Treeby’s evidence has provided a glimpse into the lives of some teens, such as their fascination with vampires – his own Mxit name was “Vampire” – bullying, vampire parties, as well as the social pecking order of the “popular” groups and the “smokers”.
Treeby’s first name was the subject of lengthy questioning of his mother, who said she chose “Damian” because it sounded nice and not because it was associated with a horror movie.
Treeby left the court quickly, briefly pursued by the media.
Source: News24
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