A Mozambican woman was sentenced in the Mpumalanga High Court yesterday to 23 years’ direct imprisonment for the brutal murder of her stepdaughter, Jennifer Gumbi (11).

Mpumalanga News reports that Clara Masinga (37) pleaded guilty to killing her stepdaughter by lacing her ice cream with Rattex.

According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa, Masinga was in a relationship with the deceased’s father, Rodgers Gumbi, and lived with him in Phosaville Section, KaMhlushwa.

“On March 21, Masinga sent the deceased’s friend to fetch her from home while she waited at a distance. When the girls returned, Masinga asked Jennifer to accompany her to her house, claiming that an acquaintance wished to buy her clothes. Upon arrival, the accused called her accomplice, who stayed with the child while she went to a nearby tuck shop to buy ice cream and Rattex.

“Masinga and her accomplice then crushed the poison and mixed it with the ice cream before giving it to the child. Jennifer’s body was later found dumped in a shallow ditch near the Mlumati River. A thorough police investigation led to Masinga’s arrest,” Nyuswa says.

She adds that Masinga admitted in court that her actions were unlawful.

She entered into a Section 105A plea and sentence agreement with the state, which was accepted.

In her plea statement, she revealed that her motive for killing the child was to spite the victim’s biological mother.

During sentencing, state advocate Senzo Zindela told the court that the accused killed an innocent child under the influence of another person and further desecrated Jennifer’s body by pouring boiling water on it.

He called for a sentence that reflects the gravity of the crime. In delivering the sentence, Judge Lindiwe Vukeya condemned the increasing incidents of domestic violence and the killing of women and children in South Africa.

Vukeya noted that the accused killed an innocent child out of animosity toward her mother and that no sentence could ever restore the lost life.

However, the court found compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence and imposed 23 years’ direct imprisonment.

Masinga was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.

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