A 29-year-old man was sentenced to 25 years behind bars for raping a three-year-old girl in Bela Bela in Limpopo before killing her in 2020.
On Tuesday the High Court in Polokwane sentenced Jeffrey Muronga to 25 years behind bars, after he pleaded guilty to charges of rape, murder, kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice.
Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson said Muronga told the court that he met the little girl in Vingerkraal, Bela Bela, where she was playing with her friends.
After luring the three-year-old girl to his place, he ordered her to wait for him outside while he took a bath. He fetched a knife from the kitchen which he used to stab the toddler who was sitting on a bed.
“He stabbed her once in the neck and she bled profusely. The accused further admits to raping the deceased and hitting the deceased with an axe on the forehead. She died instantly,” said Malabi-Dzhangi.
“He then wrapped her lifeless body with a duvet and placed it inside a bag. The body was later dumped nearby a dump site. Later the accused fled to a [Doodring Lagte] farm and remained there for five days. He went back to Fera Care Wildlife, where he was working, and his employer asked his colleagues to lock him inside a container and called the police.”
Muronga was arrested and put behind bars a week after the incident occurred.
“The accused concluded his plea by admitting that the child died because of his action and further pleaded with the court, the deceased’s family, and the community to forgive him,” Malabi-Dzhangi said.
Source: Sowetan Live, Sunday World, Opera News, image from Sowetan Live: NPA Communications