One of Pangkaeker’s ex-wives explained to the court how she assisted police in luring the accused to his arrest in Cradock. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)
Cape Town - The public have now been allowed access into the trial of Moyhdian Pangkaeker, 56 after a week of being closed as four of the victims gave in-camera testimony about the numerous allegations of sexual offences against him.
Pangkaeker has been charged for the kidnap, rape, murder and violation of 8-year-old Tazne van Wyk after he was seen travelling with her on February 7, 2020 to Worcester without her parents’ consent.
Little Tazne’s body was discovered in a stormwater drain along the N1 with her hand chopped off on February 19, 2020, two days after his arrest.
He has also been charged with 11 counts of rape which he allegedly committed between 2016 and 2019 and for intimidating the minor into remaining silent by threatening to harm them if they spoke out.
One of Pangkaeker’s ex-wives on Wednesday shared details about the violent relationship he had with her children who she said he abused and manipulated.
The pair were married in 1990 under Islamic rites and had split after they had one child. They then resumed their relationship in 2015 and in 2016 they relocated to Worcester. By this time she had two other children from a different marriage.
She said Pangkaeker and her daughter constantly fought “in their own way” and at one point he punched her daughter in the face after he refused to take her to the nightclub where he worked.
During her testimony, she started crying when she recounted a disturbing incident when the family moved to Joburg that caused her to yet again split from Pangkaeker in 2018.
She explained to the court how she assisted police in luring Pangkaeker to his arrest in Cradock after he was identified as a suspect for the disappearance of Tazne. She said she called him in the presence of police under the pretence of wanting to get back together, begging him to reconcile.
He agreed to meet her but never disclosed his exact location and instead directed her while they remained in contact via cellphone. Working hand in hand with police, they were able to track his movements via cell towers as he led her from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth.
They eventually ended up in Cradock, with Pangkaeker unaware that she had been assisting police, he requested that they meet at a hotel. He arrived in a truck where she helped him with his backpack, and lured him inside the hotel.
At this point she questioned Pangkaeker about allegations regarding his abuse towards one of the victims, when he told her, “she asked for it”.
While he was checking in at reception, she called the detective and watched as police descended on the hotel.
“As I was standing by the window, I could see the whole street was filled with police and that’s the moment he was arrested,” she said.
To keep up appearances she suggested that they both be arrested. She said while they were at the police station, she noticed that he laughed as police questioned him.
Along with rape, kidnapping and murder, Pangkaeker is charged with incest for fathering a child with a relative, sexual exploitation of a child, sexual grooming of a child, desecration of a corpse and absconding from community corrections.
rafieka.williams@inl.co.za