NELSPRUIT – The horrific court case against a man who had apparently murdered and then raped his dead daughter, is set to continue on May 16.
Mr Sonnyboy Phakimphi Mnisi of KaMhlushwa briefly appeared in the Pretoria High Court with his new Legal Aid lawyer after his former one recused himself from the case in December last year, following a disagreement between him and his client.
The argument ensued when the advocate asked Mnisi to sign his pleading statement in court and judge Ms Nomsa Khumalo asked if he agreed with the content of the statement.
That was when Mnisi pointed fingers at the lawyer stating that he showed him post-mortem photos of his daughter.
The accused faces charges of raping, sodomising and killing his daughter, offences he had apparently committed on August 15, 2012.
In the pleading statement it was heard that Mnisi went to her mother’s place in Boschfontein and asked if his daughter could visit him at KaMhlushwa.
The statement mentioned that he and his daughter arrived home late that evening and talked about many issues until she asked for a place to sleep. Mnisi prepared her a grass mat and blanket and went into his own room to sleep.
However, he said he was woken by sounds in the early morning and when he went to check, he discovered that the girl was having epileptic fits. The statement mentioned that watching his daughter suffer like that broke his heart, he felt sorry for her and decided to end her pain by hitting her head against the floor until she died, after which he raped and sodomised her.
He then left the house to go and sleep near a dam where he was discovered by members of the community who took him to his sister’s house, where he confessed to his family. The police were called and he was arrested.
The case has been set to continue on
May 16 before judge Khumalo. Mnisi is currently out on bail.
