Youth beaten to death; constables arrested

Two police officers and a lawyer have been arrested for allegedly killing a suspected burglar near Vereeniging, Gauteng, police said.

This comes after Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa announced last week that the murder ratio declined by a further 6.5% in the last year, from 16834 to 15940 reported cases.

An attorney arrived at his home in Sebokeng Zone 7 at about 9pm on Saturday and found his house had been broken into, police spokesman Captain Johannes Motsiri said.

He went to his neighbour's son and accused him of being responsible for the burglary.

"After he informed the police, two officers arrived and interrogated the youth. The three of them allegedly assaulted him until he confessed to the crime and pointed out his two alleged accomplices," Motsiri said.

The two officers, both constables at the Vaalrand Flying Squad, and the lawyer, took the alleged burglars to the Evaton police station, where they allegedly continued beating them.

The first youth died at the station shortly after their arrival.

His two alleged accomplices were slightly injured.

"At this stage we do not know what they used to assault the suspected burglars," Motsiri said.

The three men were expected to face a murder charge in court soon.

Provincial police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Katlego Mogale, said the three men were arrested at the station shortly after the incident.

She did not want to name the suspected burglar as his family had not been informed yet.

The cause of his death would be determined by a post-mortem, she said.

Independent Complaints Directorate spokesman Moses Dlamini said he was not aware of the matter.

According to the police crime statistics, the total number of murders in South Africa since 1995 has almost halved, with 26887 cases reported in the 1995/96 statistics.

It is also the first time the murder rate has dropped below the 16000 level.

According to the statistics, about 65% of murders are associated with social misbehaviour, while 16% are a consequence of other crimes like robbery.

About 12% are committed as a result of law enforcement or self-defence, and 7% as a result of group behaviour such as gang violence.