A Northern Cape man who repeatedly raped his partner and murdered her near the Dakota Informal Settlement in the town of Upington has been sentenced to three life terms in prison.
The Upington Regional Court sentenced Samuel Blom to three life terms in prison for murder and the rape of his life partner, Katriena Kedebone Petro.
The accused was convicted on one count of murder and two counts of rape, as well as defeating the course of justice.
On July 17, 2019, near the Dakota Informal Settlement in the town of Upington, the accused and the victim were at their home when the accused assaulted the victim before repeatedly raping her.
"When the accused realised that the victim was not responsive and was trying to conceal his crimes, the state alleges that the accused began to drag the body of the deceased from their home to nearby bushes," said NPA regional spokesperson, Mojalefa Senokoatsane.
"The naked body of the victim was discovered by children on Saturday, July 20, 2019. The police were alerted to this gruesome discovery, and through their intensive and detailed investigations, the accused was arrested," Senokoatsane said.
During the trial, the court heard through the medical evidence report that the injuries that the victim had endured at the hands of her intimate life partner were like those that are usually suffered by victims of motor vehicle accidents.
Prosecution-led evidence, as tabled by senior state advocate Johannes Cloete, indicated to the court that this incident was not isolated, as the accused had regularly assaulted the victim, even before that fateful night.
In aggravating the sentence, advocate Johannes Cloete argued that the court should not deviate from the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment unless the court found substantial or compelling circumstances that would justify the accused being sentenced to a lesser sentence.
"The prosecution further argued that life imprisonment would be the only suitable sentence considering the brutality of the assaults on the victim and the prevalence of gender-based violence.
"During the sentencing, the court agreed with the state and sentenced the accused to life imprisonment for murder, life imprisonment for rape, and five years’ imprisonment for defeating the course of justice," Senokoatsane said.
Senokoatsane also said the National Prosecuting Authority lauds the sterling work of the prosecution team in ensuring that another perpetrator of gender-based violence (GBV) is sentenced to an appropriate sentence of life imprisonment.
"The NPA hopes this sentence will send a clear message to other perpetrators of GBV that indeed the justice system is serious about fighting the scourge of GBV-related cases, particularly femicides," Senokoatsane said.
IOL