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A 52-YEAR-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment for the kidnapping and murder of a seven-year-old girl in Letlhabile near Brits.
Benjamin Santa Mokone was sentenced in the Pretoria High Court on Friday for the kidnapping and murder of his stepdaughter, Keitumetse Hope Tumelo.
"The court heard evidence that Keitumetse was accompanied by her mother on the morning of Tuesday, June 22, 2021, to board a taxi to school. This was the last time her mother saw her alive," North West police spokesperson Colonel Adele Myburgh said in a statement on Sunday.
“Later the same day, at about 3pm, the mother confirmed with the caretaker that her child boarded the taxi, but she waited for her in vain next to the Main Road in Letlhabile. She, after getting worried, called the taxi driver, who confirmed that he dropped the child off at Block G, Letlhabile.”
Myburgh said a missing person report was made at Letlhabile police station and the case was transferred to Brits Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit.
"Excellent Investigation work by Captain John Legoale of the Brits FCS led to the arrest of Mokone shortly after the incident was reported. Evidence heard in court revealed that camera footage obtained, showed how Mokone kidnapped Keitumetse when she alighted from the taxi in the afternoon of Tuesday, June 22, 2021.
"After his arrest, he took the police to Letlhabile Block H at a bushy area, where the half-naked body of Keitumetse was found with multiple injuries due to severe assault."
Mokone appeared in the Brits Magistrate's Court on June 25 in 2021 and abandoned his bail application. He was kept in custody until his sentencing. The case was transferred to Pretoria High Court, where Mokone pleaded guilty on both charges of kidnapping and murder.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and five years for kidnapping.
North West provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Sello Kwena welcomed the life imprisonment sentence and commended Captain John Legoale as well as the prosecution for securing the sentence and reiterated that those who perpetrate gender-based violence will be shown no mercy.