A man who had been molesting his now 20-year-old stepdaughter since she was 14 was on Monday found guilty in the Durban High Court of killing the child’s mother whom he was engaged following an argument over his obsession with the victim. After murdering his fiancée he raped his 14-year-old biological daughter. Picture: Henk Kruger
Durban — The Durban High Court will next week sentence a man who was on Monday convicted of the murder of his fiancée.
The man, 38, raped his biological daughter who was 14 at the time, while he had already been molesting his stepdaughter from the age of 11 until she was 18 years old.
He pleaded guilty to the rape of his daughters, now aged 16 and 20, but pleaded not guilty to the murder of his fiancée.
The couple had been living together as common law husband and wife since 2009 in Umlazi. In 2016 they moved to the KwaNyuswa area. He began molesting his stepdaughter in 2014 while they lived in Umlazi and this continued even after their relocation to their new home.
The couple’s relationship deteriorated over time as the accused became physically and verbally abusive.
On the day before the murder in May 2022, the accused slapped his stepdaughter for coming home late and accused her of having a boyfriend. This led to an argument between the couple and he decided to kill her.
On the night of the murder, he lured his fiancée out of the house to nearby bushes where he struck her several times, killing her.
He went back home and lured his biological daughter out of the house to nearby bushes where he raped and assaulted he. He also tried to stab her, but the teenager escaped.
At some point that night he sexually assaulted his stepdaughter and fled the house in the morning.
During the trial, the court heard the accused was arrested at Illovo on August 3, 2022, some three months after fleeing KwaNyuswa.
Police received information from crime intelligence that he was hiding at his grandmother’s place in Illovo, south of Amanzimtoti.
Detective Sergeant Humphrey Ntsusha from Umlazi arrested him and took him to Umlazi police station where detectives from Hillcrest SAPS charged him.
He was found wearing a woman’s dress and wig to disguise himself.
His grandmother testified that the accused had confessed to her about the murder while in hiding at her home.
Acting Judge Kevin Gounden, in finding the man guilty of murder, said that evidence before the court was that the accused had provided clashing information to those who questioned him on the whereabouts of his fiancée.
“You did this to hide the truth of what you had done. Her body was found covered with a bedspread that had been in her bedroom which was not found in the bedroom following the murder. From the evidence presented in court, it’s clear that you had covered her in this bedspread, and evidence presented to the court shows you were the only one who could have killed her.”
Judge Gounden found the accused’s actions before and after the murder showed he had planned the commission of the offence, and therefore found him guilty of premeditated murder.
In aggravation of sentence, State advocate Thabani Buthelezi handed in the Victim Impact Statements of the two rape victims, adding that this was a serious crime and asked the court to sentence him to life for the rapes.
“Femicide is a serious offence and there is a huge outcry over its prevalence, the deceased’s murder was callous and carried out brutally. He was supposed to protect her; not abuse and kill her. The sentence handed down needs to be harsh and lengthy to send a message to like-minded people.”
In mitigation of sentence, the accused’s Legal Aid defence counsel Zeera Fareed said the accused had spent more than a year in custody and was remorseful having pleaded guilty to the other counts.
“He took responsibility for his actions; that should be taken into account in sentencing. He has been seeing a psychiatrist in Westville Prison and taking depression medication since September 2023. He has asked for forgiveness from his children and the family. He still maintains he did not kill his fiancée.”
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