Cape Town - The family of 33-year-old Annie van Rooyen are still devastated by the discovery of her decomposed remains, under a bed, five months after she went missing in April.
Jean Paul van der Westhuizen, Florenzo Steyn and Marcel Baartman on Thursday appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court after police found the remains on Monday.
The State said, “On September 19, the body of the deceased was found under the bed of accused number one (Van der Westhuizen), the body was decomposed.
“(Van Der Westhuizen) upon his arrest made admissions to the captain that the deceased came along with accused two (Steyn) and three (Baartman) to his room. They all smoked and the accused wanted to have sex with the deceased, she tried to run away but they then strangled her and put her under the bed.”
They opted for a Legal Aid lawyer and will be back in court on October 18 for a formal bail application, which will be opposed by the State.
The victim’s mother, Marlene Van Rooyen, wept outside court following their appearance. She said: “I’m very angry and I feel sad because she didn’t need to be killed like that.
“It was a shock for me when her body was found because I didn’t know that it’s going to be like that.
“In my mind I thought she was around the area, because she is a person who walks up and down but always returns home. For these few months I was praying she must be warm and have something to eat, and a nice bed to sleep in but look where she was sleeping, under a bed.”
She leaves a 16-year-old son. Westlake residents came out in their numbers, supported by councillor Frances Lombard.
“We will not forget Annie, not her name, not her story, not her value as a community member. We also do not accept the depravity present in this crime, where the accused is said to have been sleeping with the body under his bed for months, to be what defines us. We are not a community that will accept this as normal,” Lombard said.
Westlake resident, Anthea Thebus, said, “She was a loveable person and she was vulnerable but she wasn’t vulgar. Everybody knew Annie walking around and then all of a sudden Annie disappeared. They took advantage of Annie and that made me very upset.”
Van Rooyen said what hurt her the most was that Van Der Westhuizen frequented her house in the past and even offered to help search for her daughter.
rafieka.williams@inl.co.za