A 14-year-old boy from Umzimkulu in KwaZulu-Natal has been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for raping and murdering a six-year-old girl.
Passing sentence on Monday in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, Judge Achmat Jappie said the boy would serve seven years for rape and 12 years for murder. The two sentences would run concurrently. The judge suspended five years of the 12-year sentence.
The boy, assisted by his father, said that in August he made the girl lie on the floor of his mother’s home and raped her.
”I was overcome with grief and fear as I realised she would report me. I decided to murder her. I forced her pants into her mouth and held her nose with my hand, preventing her breathing. She died as a result of my actions,” he said.
The judge told the boy that if he had been older he would have given him a life sentence. Jappie said he hoped the boy would realise the seriousness of his crimes and use the facilities in Westville Prison to change his ways. — Sapa