Couple guilty of raping, murdering their three-year-old daughter

The high court in Johannesburg on Thursday found a couple guilty of the rape and murder of their three-year-old daughter and the abuse of their six-year-old son. 

Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) said the girl was removed from her parents when she was three, but was inexplicably placed back with them. She died shortly thereafter in 2021.

She said the mother, aged 29, was found guilty of murder and the father, 40, as an accessory to the crime. 

The couple also faced two charges of assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm in that they allegedly poured boiling water on the boy. 

They also faced charges of child abuse for allegedly hitting the girl against a cupboard or wall and also hitting her with a hand and shoe and smearing her with faeces. They were accused of assaulting the boy with an electrical cord and their hands, and smearing him with faeces. They faced charges of rape of their daughter and her murder in 2021. 

The court acquitted the couple on the charge of assault GBH of the boy, because it could not be established whether the pouring of water on the boy was intentional or was an accident. 

On the abuse of the boy, the court found the father guilty and the mother guilty as accessory after the fact. The father was found guilty of child abuse of the girl and the mother guilty as an accessory after the fact.

Women and Men Against Child Abuse’s Luke Lamprecht said the organisation was pleased by the convictions handed down by judge Mokate Noko.

“We would also like to commend all of the state witnesses from the SAPS, the nurse, doctor, forensic pathologist and paramedic for their excellent evidence,” Lamprecht said. 

Lamprecht praised the bravery of and the evidence given by the surviving child, who is now in state care. 

“One can only hope that he will someday recover from the horrors that he experienced and witnessed and be able to have a normal life.” 

WMACA said the couple’s bail was revoked after the guilty plea. 

The defence team had requested bail for the mother and the father to be extended pending sentence.

 “We at WMACA fully support the state in opposing bail, as for a schedule 6 offence they should never have been given bail in the first place,” Lamprecht said. 

 The case was postponed until August 1 to confirm if pre-sentencing reports and heads of argument in respect of sentencing are ready. 

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