Conwell Mongezi Chauke, a 34-year-old South African man from Loftus Gardens, has been handed a life sentence after brutally murd3ring 11-year-old Khothatso Welhelmina Tshabalala, st@bbing her an astonishing 66 times.
The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria concurrently sentenced Chauke to 6 years for kidnapping the victim, while also declaring him unfit to own a firearm.
The heinous crime, which took place on December 29, 2020, stemmed from Chauke’s anger after the girl’s mother, a member of his prayer group, rejected his romantic advances.
Following a threatening phone call, Chauke lured the child into their home under false pretenses of retrieving his belongings.
Tragically, once inside, he att@cked her, subsequently covering her body with linen and abandoning the scene, leaving it for concerned neighbors to discover later.
Chauke surrendered to the police two days after the murder, where he initially denied the kidnapping but later pleaded guilty to m_rder, attributing his actions to anger towards the victim’s mother.
In court, the prosecution emphasized Chauke’s lack of remorse, depicting him as a continued threat to society, particularly given the vulnerability of the child victim.
The court was presented with Victim Impact Statements, illustrating the profound emotional trauma suffered by Tshabalala’s mother and sister, both of whom expressed the enduring pain of their loss.
Judge Jacobus Johannes Strijdom underscored the grave nature of Chauke’s crimes, noting the violent violation of the deceased’s rights and the necessity of protecting society from such offenders.
He reiterated that no mitigating circumstances justified deviating from the maximum sentence, a stance supported by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
The NPA welcomed the ruling as a clear signal that perpetrators of vi0lent crimes against women and children will be met with severe consequences in South Africa.
SOURCE : NEWSREPORTZIM.COM
