The infamous ‘Station Strangler’ who killed one child and was a suspect in the murder of another 21 boys has been released on parole after 28 years in prison – to the outcry of the victim’s family.
Schoolteacher Norman Afzal Simons, now aged 56, was convicted of kidnapping and killing 10-year-old Elroy van Rooyen in 1995.
Sentenced to 35 years in prison, the murderer was released on 20 July from Drakenstein Correctional Centre in South Africa, but will remain on house arrest in Parow for the rest of his life.
Florence Galant, Elroy’s aunt, recounts the horror of losing her nephew to the horrific crime.
“For a long time the pain was better, but now it feels as if Elroy went missing yesterday,” said the 60-year-old, from Cape Town.
“Norman carries on with his life.
“He’s living with his family and he can sit at a table and braai chops and eat and laugh and chat – and our children’s voices are silent.
“We’ll never hear their voices again.”
The nickname, the Station Strangler, is linked to a killing spree in the local area in the period between 1986 and 1994, where young boys were suspected to have been kidnapped at a train station, before being strangled to death and buried in the shallow graves with their hands tied behind their backs.
Albeit a suspect in the other murders, Afzal Simons was only convicted for Elroy’s death, having abducted the child at a train station.
Florence said: “Before Elroy went missing, I went to my mom’s house and warned the kids about the Station Strangler catching children and killing them.
“Elroy told me, ‘That man will never get his hands on me’.”
Rhyno, Elroy’s cousin, was with him at the time he was abducted but managed to escape by jumping off a moving train.
Approached by a stranger, Rhyno claims the man asked him and Elroy to help carry banana boxes to the station, promising to pay them 10 South African Rand (£0.40) each, before the trio boarded the train together.
Florence said: “To this day I don’t know what Rhyno was thinking!
“When the whistle blew and the train started moving, he screamed at Elroy, ‘Come, Elroy, let’s jump off the train! Come!’
“But he jumped out alone and stood on the platform watching the train go around the bend.
“He saw the man throwing banana boxes out the window and that was the last time Elroy was seen.”
Thanks to Rhyno’s description of the man, police were able to identify and arrest Afzal Simons.
Elroy’s mother, Mary-Olive, never recovered from the death of her son and tragically passed away while grieving her son.
Florence said: “Elroy was everything to her.
“He was her baby.
“She just fell ill and started wasting away.
“I believe she died of a broken heart.”
Correctional services have stated that Afzal Simons will remain on parole for the remainder of his life and will be closely monitored but Florence this brings little comfort to her family.
She claims to have found out the news from her 83-year-old mother, who was visited by the prison warden.
Florence said: “My mother said, ‘They’re saying that man is coming out’.
“I didn’t reply because I was shocked to my core.
“When your children are young, you always wonder what will become of them one day.
“Will he find a woman and get married when he’s older?
“Elroy would’ve been close to 40.
“Though he [Simons] wasn’t found guilty of the other kids’ murders, there are still 21 families out there who can’t get any closure because they don’t know what happened to their children or who really killed them.
“We never forget them.”
ENDS
