Tebogo Msimanga |
The Pretoria High Court sentenced Thabang Lephoi (31) from Soshanguve to one life term and five years imprisonment for the murder of his three months old baby boy.
On 10 November 2017, Lephoi returned from a night shift at about 07h00 to the house he shared with the mother of the baby. When he arrived, he started packing the baby’s belongings and preparing the baby.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Regional Spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said when the mother inquired what he was doing, he told her he was taking the baby to live with his mother in Vryburg, in North West Province.
“The two argued and in the process, Lephoi assaulted the mother. She then left the house to look for Lephoi’s uncle who stayed nearby, to ask for his intervention.”
Mahanjana said when the mother returned, Lephoi and the baby were not in the house. She went to report the matter to the police station. Lephoi was called by the police and was asked for his whereabouts and those of the baby.
“He agreed to come to the police station where the mother was. When he arrived at the police station, he asked to take the police to where the baby was. Upon arrival, he pointed the police to a shallow hole where the body of the deceased baby was covered with huge rocks.”
He was arrested on the same day and has been in custody since his arrest in 2017.
The State Advocate, Juliet Makgwatha argued in aggravation of sentence that the offence was premeditated. “He did this just to spite the mother of the deceased and this constituted the worst form of Gender-Based Violence”.
