MOTHER AND SIBLING SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR RAPE AND MURDER OF MINOR
A mother of a two-year-old minor, Esther Mwenda Brown, and her brother Mike Mwenda Brown were today sentenced by the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Local Division Johannesburg, to three life terms and a further 18 months imprisonment each, for murder, rape, and the contravention of the Immigration Act.
Little Josephine Athalia Bombando died in a ritual killing at a Midrand hotel in April 2021. She was declared dead by paramedics that were summoned by hotel staff, following the arrival of the siblings at the reception area with her lifeless body.
The pair was immediately arrested after investigations into the room they had booked earlier the day pointed the police to a possible ritual murder. Crucifix signs made from oil were found on the room’s mirrors and other shiny surfaces. The autopsy report indicated that her death was because of the ‘application of external pressure to the neck, that left her thyroid fractured and blunt force trauma to the head. She further suffered injuries to her private parts.
In pleading with the court to sentence the siblings to a term of life imprisonment for each count of rape and the murder count, Adv. Paul Nel argued that the rape and murder were premeditated as part of a ritual killing. He further added that the most aggravating factor was that these acts were perpetrated by the deceased’s own mother and uncle, whom the deceased trusted and looked to for protection. Their faces must have been the last images she saw whilst she was strangled to death. Adv Nel also argued that the accused showed no remorse for their actions and had remained silent in the face of overwhelming evidence that they had tortured the deceased in a most gruesome way.
Judge Mohamed Ismail remarked that the siblings showed no mercy when they violated the tender body of a defenceless child, and thereafter took her life in an evil way. “The child died an agonising death at the hands of people she knew and loved”, he said. He added that the court never got to establish the reason behind Bombando’s murder as the pair did not state their version in court, a sign of lack of accountability and remorse.
The NPA commends the work done by the investigating officer Sergeant Phetole Moses Semosa and Adv. Nel in delivering justice to the father of the minor and the rest of the family.
