Three men in South Africa are accused of killing two women and feeding their bodies to pigs on their farm in a case that has outraged the public.
The men appeared in court Tuesday in the northern province of Limpopo. The state wants them to remain behind bars until their trial is concluded.
Farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier, supervisor Andrian Rudolph de Wet and employee William Musora face two counts of premeditated murder, one count of attempted murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm. Musora, a Zimbabwean national, also faces charges of being in the country illegally.
It is alleged that in August, a truck belonging to a dairy company dumped potentially expired goods at Olivier’s farm, prompting the women, Locadia Ndlovu and Maria Makgatho, to trespass and try to collect the products.
Both were shot and killed. A man with them was injured and crawled to a nearby road to scream for help. He told police, who found the women’s decomposed bodies in a pigsty.
Several political parties protested outside Mankweng Magistrates Court, calling for the men to be denied bail and face the harshest possible sentence. The South African Human Rights Commission called on the public not to take the law into their hands in retaliation.
Violent crimes on South Africa’s farms have been a concern for years, including the killing of farmers by criminals and farmers’ abuse of workers.