A Roodepoort couple were sentenced to an effective 20 years each on Monday for torturing their 4-month-old baby girl to death and severely abusing the baby’s two-year-old sister for almost a year.
Pretoria High Court Judge Eben Jordaan sentenced the couple, aged 29 and 27, to a total of 28 years imprisonment each on charges of murder and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, but ordered that they must serve 20 years of their sentence.
The couple may not be identified to protect the identity of their surviving daughter and their two other children, who were born during the course of the trial.
Prosecutor Sara Mitchley said the sentence was one of the highest until now in South Africa for parents who had killed their child.
Passing sentence, Jordaan said the courts had a duty to protect children against torture and abuse. He quoted another judge, saying that he would have ordered that the mother be sterilised, had it been within his power. He also said he had taken into account that the murder had not been planned in advance and that both accused had personality disorders.
Evidence had, however, shown that both children were brutally assaulted on an ongoing basis. Fractures and bruises were the order of the day. He had to impose a sentence that would reflect society’s views about murders of babies, the Judge said.
Jordaan earlier described the baby girl’s injuries as a classic example of child abuse. Her injuries were horrifying and indicative of a prolonged and ongoing series of brutal assaults, which caused severe fractures and bruises.
Photographs handed in as evidence reflected a terrible picture of pain and suffering. The baby had 15 broken ribs, fractures in two places on her left arm, a broken leg, multiple bruises on her face and body and bite marks on her arm.
She died of bronchopneumonia in January 1999 because she was unable to breathe properly as a result of numerous fractured ribs. Her two-year-old sister, who was raised by her maternal grandparents until the age of 18 months but taken away by her mother through a court order, was beaten over a period of 11 months and suffered multiple bruises, black eyes and broken bones. Her grandparents now planned to adopt her.
Two further children, born in July last year and August this year, were taken away from the accused and now live with their paternal grandparents.
During her evidence in mitigation, the mother admitted squeezing, force-feeding and biting her baby daughter, but said she was trying to ”control” the child and had not assaulted him.
A psychologist told the court the couple valued their relationship more highly than their relationship with their children. The mother was jealous of her children, had a borderline anti-social disorder and tended to have repeated uncontrolled outbursts of anger.
Jordaan said the couple had lied to protect each other and had ignored their baby daughter’s cries for help by refusing to take her for medical help. – Sapa