Harrismith - The case of two men and two teenage boys implicated in the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl in Intabazwe was postponed in the Harrismith Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, said Free State police.
The four would be kept in custody until their next court appearance on January 10, when they would be applying for bail, said Sergeant Mmako Mophiring.
The group would also be applying for legal aid.
The boys, aged 14 and 16, and two men were alleged to have raped and murdered the girl on Sunday.
Two of those arrested were siblings.
“The girl was with her boyfriend, 15, outside a church building when they were approached by four guys with hammers... These people took the girl and threatened to kill him (the boyfriend), but he managed to escape,” Mophiring said.
The teenage boy alerted the girl's family. Local residents found the girl's body in a cemetery on Monday morning. She had been stabbed several times in the chest and neck.
“Her artificial hair had been pulled off and was scattered around her... We also found eight used condoms on the scene. Whatever happened to that girl was brutal.”
Police questioned the girl's boyfriend, which led to the arrests of two people.
“We searched their house and found bloody clothes... Further investigations led to the arrest of the other two suspects,” Mophiring said. - Sapa