Detectives name man wanted over girl's death in fire

Detectives name man wanted over girl's death in fire

The girl's father battled to save her but was driven back by smoke

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By James Tapsfield

DETECTIVES probing the murder of a six-year-old girl who perished in a house fire said today that they were hunting for her aunt’s former lover.

Dumoluhle Sibanda – known as Dumo – was trapped in her first-floor bedroom when flames ripped through the house in Pound Hill, near Crawley, West Sussex, in the early hours of October 26.

Dumo’s father Donald and aunt Merci Mlalazi managed to escape from the building, but were unable to save her and she died later in hospital.

The blaze was not initially viewed as suspicious, but a murder investigation began last week after petrol was found at the scene.

A spokesman for Sussex Police today named George Champion Sithole as the man they want to speak to in connection with the murder.

Officers believe the 34-year-old – who was living in Crawley – has now fled to the African subcontinent, and have brought in Interpol to help track him down.

The arson attack is thought to be connected with a failed relationship Sithole had with Dumo’s aunt, according to the spokesman.

Dumo and her parents – who both work in nursing – moved from Zimbabwe to live with Merci at the house in Pound Hill several years ago.

Police described them as a “nice, hardworking family” who had given nobody cause to attack them.
AP
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