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A KwaZulu-Natal man, who is accused of raping and murdering a 7-year-old girl, was described as racist in the Verulam Family Court on Monday.
The claims were made during Laston Moodley's failed bail application when prosecutor San Bhartu turned to the moments before the 26-year-old's arrest.
READ: Man accused of rape, murder of girl, 7, says he is 'honest'
Shortly before police detained him, the local community had gathered outside his home and accused him of killing the child.
READ Suffer little children: The missing, the lost and the dead
Bhartu referred to a series of messages between the accused and his sister, and one of the 53 messages were read out in court.
In the frantic text, the accused called the largely black community "darkie ous".
"What stands out as despicable and offensive are his messages to his sister is when he refers to the community as 'darkie ous' who want to kill him. It is clear that he thinks of the community as sub-humans and his conduct should be treated with the contempt it deserves," Bhartu argued.
'Locked himself in his home'
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Bhartu said that, while Moodley referred to the group as aggressive, they did not harm him.
"This same aggressive group allowed him to enter his premises unscathed."
Although he claimed that he had contacted the police, he locked himself in his home and refused to open the door when the police eventually arrived.
"In fact, the police had to kick open the door to find the accused hiding inside where the victims bloodied clothing was found."
Moodley is accused of raping the 7-year-old girl before stabbing her to death at his home in Hammonds Farm, Waterloo, south of Durban on July 28.
The court previously asked that the name of the 7-year-old be withheld.
However, he claims that he had visited the nearby Waterloo Spar to buy dinner for his wife while the crime occurred at his home.
According to Moodley, when he got home from the Spar, he noticed that his kitchen door was open and that appliances had been disconnected.
The State however questioned why none of his appliances had been stolen.
Although Moodley claimed that he "never saw the victim before in my life", he conceded that he had sent her to a nearby tuckshop to buy him cigarettes.
Outside of the court on Monday, at least 80 people gathered and called for Moodley to be kept in custody.
Those that made their way into the court constantly gasped and shouted out when the facts of the case were revealed.
There were jubilant celebrations when he was denied bail.
"We want him to stay in jail. He killed our innocent child. We don't want to see him outside harming other children," one woman told News24.
Moodley is expected to be back in court again on November 29.
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