On Tuesday a man convicted of the murder of his fiancée and the rape of his daughters begins serving his lengthy sentence of five life sentences handed to him by the Durban High Court on Monday. | JACQUES NAUDE
Durban — The Durban High Court sentenced a man to five life terms for the murder of his fiancée and the rapes of his biological daughter and stepdaughter.
The 38-year-old man on the day of the murder in 2022 raped his biological daughter, who was 14, while he had already been molesting his stepdaughter from the age of 11 until she was 18 years old.
He pleaded guilty to the rapes of his daughters, now aged 16 and 20, but pleaded not guilty to the murder of his fiancée. He had also been convicted of trying to kill his biological daughter after raping her.
On Monday, Acting Judge Kevin Gounden in addition to the life sentences handed the man five years for attempted murder and one year for assault. He ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
In sentencing, Judge Gounden said that rape was not only rife but had reached pandemic proportions, with vulnerable women and children bearing the brunt of this scourge.
“One can only imagine what was going through the minds of these two innocent girls. They loved and trusted you as their dad. Your obsession with your stepdaughter caused an argument between you and the deceased and thereafter you decided to kill her. You assaulted her, injuring her very greatly. The cause of death in the post-mortem report is recorded as blunt force neck injury. After she died you pushed her body down a slope and covered her body – you did that to avoid detection, you ran away and disguised yourself as a woman to avoid further detection. You were supposed to protect her, but you decided to take her life away – her murder was premeditated.”
Judge Gounden said that the minimum prescribed sentence for rape and murder was life, adding that the court could deviate from the prescribed sentence only if there were compelling circumstances to do so.
He said the court needed to weigh mitigation factors against aggravation factors presented to the court after conviction in sentencing. The man’s defence in mitigation of sentence had asked that the court consider his time, over a year, already spent behind bars awaiting the finalisation of the trial.
“I agree with the State that where minimum sentence applies, time already spent behind bars waiting for trial has no bearing. It’s difficult to consider mitigating factors when he pleaded guilty to rape, whereas he pleaded not guilty to murder. Remorse is an important consideration in sentencing, however, it needs to be genuine, and sincere where the accused takes the court into full confidence. Evidence against the accused is overwhelming. The fact you pleaded guilty can be viewed as remorse. However, pleading guilty after being caught and not before, is in my view an indication of regret and not remorse. No indication was given as to why you pleaded guilty, you chose to remain silent. You pleaded guilty because you saw that the State had overwhelming evidence against you. Your apology and guilty plea is not mitigating in your favour.”
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