THIS is the massive rock used to smash in the skull of brilliant university student Hannah Cornelius after she was kidnapped and brutally gang raped.

The boulder had been used to cover a borehole and was slammed down on her head twice as she was held down, a court was told.

8 The massive rock weighed nearly six stone

There were loud gasps of shock and horror from the public gallery as the alleged weapon used to murder the high flying BA Humanities scholar was produced.

The fatal blow was delivered after at least three men had taken turns to rape the gifted scholar.

Hannah, 21, would almost certainly have died instantly, according to experts.

But to make sure one of her killers also plunged a knife into her neck.

8 Hannah's badly battered body was found dumped near a work site Credit: Jamie Pyatt/Facebook

The chilling exhibit was lifted with a struggle onto a desk before the judge at the Western High Court in Cape Town, South Africa, by two strong security guards.

It was said that magistrate's daughter Hannah and a friend Cheslin Marsh, 22, were kidnapped after she gave him a lift home in May last year at midnight.

She had parked her blue VW Golf – a gift from her grandmother - outside his flat but as they parked a gang of four men attacked them opening both doors.

They put a screwdriver to her chest through and opened the passenger door and put a knife to the back of fellow student Mr Marsh and threatened to kill him.

8 The accused: Vernon Witbooi, 33, Geraldo Parsons, 27, Nashville Julius, 29, and Eben Van Nieberk, 28

The court heard one of the gang shouted at him: "Sit still or she dies."

Mr Marsh was robbed of cash and his phone and locked in the car boot and then the gang drove to a drug dealers home to buy drugs and smoked crystal meth.

Hannah was wedged between two of the four men in the back seat of the VW and the gang drove out of the upmarket wine producing town of Stellenbosch.

They pulled over and took Mr Marsh into the bushes and made him lay his head on a rock on the ground and then battered his skull with house bricks.

CCTV of moment university student Hannah Cornelius was kidnapped in her own car before being gang-raped and murdered in South Africa

The brutal assault only stopped when the gang were convinced that he was dead.

That afternoon Marsh recovered consciousness and staggered to a nearby home suffering severe head injuries and a broken arm to raise the alarm about Hannah.

Unknown to him her body had been found earlier several miles away dumped by the road and a huge police search was already underway for him and the gang.

She had been dragged into bushes at a vineyard and gang raped by at least three of the men in what was described in court as an “extremely painful” ordeal.

8 Hannah suffered severe vaginal and cervical injuries in the prolonged attack

When it was over it is alleged that the gang then found the large boulder covering a water borehole nearby and manhandled it across to where she was laying.

Heavy bruising on her arms show she had been held down and it is believed that probably several of the gang lifted the huge rock and dropped it on her head.

Forensic pathologist Dr Deidre Abraham who carried out the autopsy on Hannah confirmed that her murderers dealt the fatal blows by dropping the rock twice.

She said: “The skull is made up of very strong bones indeed. It is not easy for a skull to break or crack unless a lot of power is used to actually break the skull.

“The blunt force injuries to her head were very rapidly fatal."

8 Hannah Cornelius was abducted before her body was found the next day Credit: Jamie Pyatt/Facebook

Two workers Conrad Booysen and Flippie Matthee told the court they were repairing a borehole pump at Groenhoek Farm near Stellenbosch the day before.

After they removed the pump from the bottom of the well Mr Booysen said they placed the rock over the hole to stop people or animals falling in after dark.

Mr Booysen, 54, said the rock was so heavy it took the two of them to move it.

The accused Vernon Witbooi, 33, Geraldo Parsons, 27, Nashville Julius, 29, and Eben Van Nieberk, 28, face charges including murder, kidnap, robbery and rape.

8 A photo of the tattoo on the body of Parsons which was shown to the court

Three of them Witbooi, Julius and Van Nieberk admit that they were present but claimed they only robbed the pair and did not commit the rape or murder.

The court was shown yesterday photo’s of prison tattoo’s on the body of both Witbooi and Parsons taken after their arrest which showed the number 28.

Parson’s tattoo’s included crossed swords, a gun, a grotesque sketch of a naked headless female with legs spread open and shoulder stars showing his rank.

Investigating officer Sergeant Marlon Appolis said the significance of the number 28 showed that their role while in prison was to be the “wives” of others.

8 Cheslin Marsh had been in the car with the student at the time Credit: Jamie Pyatt/Facebook

Hannah was the daughter of magistrate Willem Cornelius and lawyer wife Anna, 56, who tragically drowned whilst swimming 10 months after her murder.

Victim Hannah was a straight A’s student and in her second year at Stellenbosch University studying for a Bachelor of Arts when she was attacked and murdered.

Fellow student Mr Marsh broke down in tears as he told how they were hijacked and he was bundled into the boot while Hannah was held inside the car.

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Mr Marsh said they had been for a few drinks and said he was going to use his skateboard to get home but Hannah insisted on driving him in case he was robbed.

he 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.

8 Cheslin pictured after his horrific ordeal Credit: Jamie Pyatt

Mr Marsh 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."

The trial continues.

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