BOIPATONG. – 38-year-old Lele Raymond Mile has been handed down a tough sentence of 25 years in prison after he killed his wife, Mpho Mile (33), on the day of their seventh anniversary on 10 December 2017. The proceedings took place at the Palmridge High Court in Katlehong on Monday.

Lele was firstly charged with the murder of his late wife and secondly charged with assault with the intention to cause grievous bodily harm after attempting to pour boiling water on Mpho and broke her wrist in 2015.He was found guilty on both counts and given 20 years and five years respectively.

Mpho was killed with a pair of scissors at the home she and her husband shared in Tshepiso, Sharpeville after the two got involved in a quarrel.The court heard that on the fatal day, Lele fled the scene leaving his dead wife in the house and only returned seven hours later reeking of alcohol.

While handing down the sentence, Judge Herman Broodryk described Lele as a liar and said that he had given inconsistent and contradictory evidence in court during his cross examination. He further stated that the accused had not shown any remorse for his actions, but instead blamed the deceased and played the victim for the duration of the trial.He unconditionally rejected the evidence given by the accused.

Broodryk revealed that the relationship between the deceased and the accused had been filled with turmoil and that they had not been in an ideal marriage. The judge further stated that there were no mitigating circumstances to convince the court that Lele was deserving of a less harsher sentence.

The State Prosecutor, Advocate Esther Kabini, said that as a result of the high amount of femicides, the courts needed to give harsher sentences to perpetrators in order to send a strong message that the violent killings of women will not go unpunished. Mpho’s family, said that they were happy that justice had finally been served.

“We are happy that justice has been served at last. It was very difficult seeing Lele roaming the streets after he killed our child. We have learnt that perseverance breeds success.”

Mpho was described as a bubbly person who stood her ground. “Mpho was a breadwinner, she took care of us as a family. We are going to miss her presence in our lives but we are happy that she is finally going to rest in peace.”

During mitigation, it was also said that Lele had been traumatised by the death of his wife. Detective Warrant Officer Moses Mogajane from the Boipatong SAPS Crime Investigation Services said that he was very happy about the outcome of the case.

“This shows commitment of the SAPS in bringing the perpetrators of such crimes to book. We work very hard on such cases because we want to make sure that we do away with these types of crimes.”

Read the first article here: https://www.citizen.co.za/sedibeng-ster/13022/man-kills-wife-scissors/