A KwaMashu mother has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering her 14-year-old daughter for life insurance.
A KwaZulu-Natal mother faces life behind bars for killing her daughter in cold blood, driven by insurance policy greed.
The Ntuzuma Regional Court has sentenced a 43-year-old woman from KwaMashu to life imprisonment for the murder of her 14-year-old daughter in ‘D’ Section, in KwaMashu, in July 2024.
The mother told the police the morning after her daughter’s death that the deceased had taken medication before bed the night before because of a headache.
Mother told police she found daughter lying in pool of blood
She claimed that she discovered the girl lying in a pool of blood with an injury to the back of her head when she went to wake her up for school.
The accused told officers that her daughter had injured herself by falling from the bed.
The police opened an inquest docket; however, investigations revealed a plot of greed.
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The pathologist discovered at the post-mortem that the teenager’s injuries did not match her mother’s account of what happened.
The police also interviewed the family’s neighbours, who said that before the incident, they had heard the daughter plead with her mother not to kill her.
Officers investigated further and found out that the accused had taken out several life insurance policies on the teen. Before the incident, she called the consultants to confirm the policy amount and the claim procedure.
Neighbours said daughter pleaded for her life
The mother was subsequently arrested.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said in court that the accused chose to enter a guilty plea under Section 112(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1997. The court rejected her plea in full and entered a not guilty plea under section 113.
She then made Section 220 admissions in addition to her guilty plea, where she admitted to killing her child for the insurance money.
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The court found the mother guilty as charged based on the strength of the admissions.
Prosecutor Sbongiseni Goodenough Mtetwa led the grieving father’s testimony in aggravation of the sentence.
The father told the court that the deceased was his only child, and he solely maintained her expenses, including school fees, etc.
Life sentence
The accused was sentenced accordingly and declared unfit to possess a firearm.
“The NPA welcomes the conviction and sentence. We remain steadfast in our commitment to uphold the rule of law and pursue justice without fear or favour,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
“We will safeguard the rights and dignity of all members of society, especially children and other vulnerable groups.”
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