Cape Town – The Mpumalanga High Court sitting in Graskop, reportedly sentenced a couple, Fanni Poloane, 31, and Keletso Sesi Maimela, 32, to 20 years direct imprisonment on Thursday after they murdered an 18-month-old girl in September 2019.
Maimela was the biological mother of the child and was in a relationship with Poloane. They lived together at Ga-Madiseng Riba Cross in Lydenburg, reports said.
“The court heard that during September 2019, the pair conspired and took the deceased at night to the mountains around Lydenburg.
“Upon their arrival, they immersed the victim in a bucket full of water with her head facing down until she died,” The South African quoted the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Monica Nyuswa as saying.
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They then dumped the infant and returned home.
The couple was arrested after Maimala’s parents asked about the whereabouts of the child, and when they couldn’t get adequate answers, they opened a case with the police, Times Live reported.
In court, the couple testified against each other, with Maimela maintaining that Poloane forced her to kill her baby.
The little girl’s remains were never found.
Judge Kgama Shai ruled that infanticide would never be tolerated and sentenced each to 20 years imprisonment for murder and for defeating the ends of justice.
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