A student was murdered after being kidnapped and gang raped when she stopped to give a friend a lift home to prevent him being mugged while he made his way home on his skateboard.

Hanna Cornelius, 21, pulled over to help fellow student Cheslin Marsh, 22.

As she did so, a group of four men rushed to her car and one of them put a screwdriver to her chest through the open window.

Hanna Cornelius had her skull crushed after being gang raped (Picture: Facebook/Jamie Pyatt)

She was described in court as a ‘brilliant student’ who achieved excellent results (Picture: Facebook/Jamie Pyatt)

They then put a knife to Mr Marsh’s back and one of them shouted ‘sit still or she dies’, Western Cape High Court, Cape Town, was told.


He was then locked in the boot of the car after his phone and cash were taken while the four men went to buy crystal meth.

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Hanna was wedged between two of the four men in the back seat of the VW Golf given to her as a birthday present from her grandmother.



They then drove to Stellenbosch where they took Mr Marsh into some bushes at the side of the road.

Three of them forced him to lay with his head on a rock then beat him around the skull with house bricks, leaving him for dead.

She stopped to offer Cheslin Marsh a lift home to prevent him being robbed (Picture: Police/Jamie Pyatt)

However, he later regained consciousness and staggered to a nearby house where he raised the alarm.

Meanwhile Hannah’s body was found several miles away dumped by the roadside after she had been dragged into the buses and gang raped by three of the men.

Her skull was crushed with a large rock and she was stabbed in the neck.

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The court heard that Hannah was a ‘brilliant student’, the daughter of magistrate Willem Cornelius and lawyer wife Anna, 56, who drowned 10 months after her murder.

Four men Vernon Witbooi, 33, Geraldo Parsons, 27, Nashville Julius, 29, and Eben Van Nieberk, 28, face a string of charges including murder, kidnap, robbery and rape.

Mr Marsh broke down in tears repeatedly as he told how they were hijacked and he was locked in the boot while Hannah was kept inside the car.

He said they had been out with friends and was going to use his skateboard to get home but Hannah insisted on driving him in case he was robbed.

Four men have been accused of gang rape – they are: Witbooi, Parsons, Julius, Niekerk (Picture: TimesLIVE/Jamie Pyatt)

Mr Marsh said when they pulled up the gang pounced threatening to stab Hannah to death with a sharpened screwdriver and him to death with a knife placed at his back.

He described how they were driven to a suburb of Cape Town called Kraaifontein 11 miles from where they were hijacked in Stellenbosch and he was pulled from the car boot.

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He said: ‘I lay down on the ground as they told me and put my head on a rock. I closed my eyes and I prayed. The two men were standing over me with bricks in their hands.

‘I lost consciousness and when I woke I was in horrible pain, everywhere pain. When I last heard Hannah talking her voice was very soft and I could tell she was scared’.

He managed to stagger to a nearby house covered in blood and raise the alarm.

Mr Marsh was so traumatised he never returned to his studies and is now deaf in one ear as a result of his injuries and vivid scars could be seen on his head as he gave evidence.

Marsh was badly injured but managed to regain consciousness and get to a nearby house for help (Picture: Handout/Jamie Pyatt)

One of the men accused of the murder of Hannah had his confession made the day after his arrest read to the court and said the gang went into town ‘to see what they could get’.



Witbooi alleged the other three took Mr Marsh out of the boot while he had a ‘smoke’ and into the bushes and said they told him they had tied him up and left him to be found.

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He said he was ‘only after money’ and said after Mr Marsh was left for dead the gang drove off and later took Hannah into bushes but denied any part in her rape and murder.

Witbooi said that three others returned from the bushes after raping Hannah and said: ‘While we were driving Parsons said I had missed out on having had sex with her.

‘He said they had tied the girl up and that the workers would find her tomorrow’ he said.

The gang then high on drugs went on a robbery spree in the hijacked car robbing at least three women before the stolen car was spotted and a high speed police chase began.

Three of them were arrested after dumping the car while the fourth was caught later.

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