A 43-year-old man has been sentenced to two life terms and additional 30 years behind bars, for the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl from Sebokeng, Gauteng.
According to Colonel Dimakatso Sello, the police spokesperson, the six-year-old child was playing with friends near her grandmother’s house in Sebokeng in July 2021, when Aggripa Tshepo Matsoetlane lured her to his rented back room.
“The grandmother went looking for her granddaughter when she did not return home after playing at the neighbour’s house.
Sello said: “Witnesses indicated that they had heard the child crying inside the suspect’s room, and the grandmother confronted him. She said Motsoetlane felt “cornered” and stabbed the grandmother before fleeing the scene with a black bag containing a “heavy substance”.
A search was launched for the missing six-year-old girl and Matsoetlane, and the police were able to recover the body of the child which was buried in a mine hole near her grandmother’s home within 24 hours. Motsoetlane was arrest few days after the incident.”
The case was assigned to Captain Makonyane Piet Motsoeneng from the Sebokeng Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit. “Motsoeneng meticulously pieced all the evidence together, which resulted in a watertight case against the accused in court.”
On Thursday, the Gauteng High Court sitting in Palm Ridge sentenced Motsoetlane to two life terms with an additional 30 years for the rape and murder of the child. Sello said he was found guilty of defeating the ends of justice and attempted murder on top of the rape and murder charges.
Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, the Gauteng police commissioner, commended the team for ensuring that the case was quickly finalised.
“This case was finalised and resolved within months, a clear indication that members of the South African Police Service remain committed to fighting crime against women, children and vulnerable persons’s,” Mawela said.
Source: News24, Africa Press, image from Africa Press: Mario Marco/Getty Images