The High Court at Breyten sentenced a 30-year-old man to life imprisonment on Tuesday, August 17, for the murder of his child’s mother (23) in eMzinoni on 3 September 2018.
The decision to sentence the 30 year old man was reached after overwhelming evidence was presented in court which revealed details on how he brutally stabbed his 23 year old partner to death.
According to the Mpumalanga police spokesman, Col Donald Mdhluli, the police are withholding the name of the man and his victim for the protection of their minor child.
The man visited the victim at about 09:00 that day where she and their two-year-old child were living with her aunt.
The two argued in and the man then brutally stabbed her repeatedly in front of the child. The post mortem report revealed at the time that the woman was almost decapitated.
The man fled the scene, leaving the child alone with the mother’s body.
Later in the afternoon her aunt returned home from work and discovered her niece’s body in a pool of blood.
The police at Emzinoni as well as the paramedics were informed about the incident and the woman was certified dead at the scene and a murder case opened. The case docket was assigned to the Mpumalanga Provincial Investigation Unit.
“A manhunt was launched for the suspect and the astute members made a breakthrough and arrested him in eMbalenhle in August last year,” Col Mdhluli said.
He was charged for murder and went on trial. The state presented a watertight case against the accused and he was eventually convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder charge. The court also declared him as unfit to possess a firearm.
The Provincial Commissioner of the police in Mpumalanga, Lieut-Gen Semakaleng Manamela welcomed the the sentence has further praised the team of detectives, the prosecution eam as well as the judiciary for their hard work which resulted in this hefty sentence.
She sent a warning to perpetrators of gender-based violence crimes to know that severe punishment exists for such offenders.
