A 22-year-old Thabiso Shadrack Mphuthi was found guilty of murder and was subsequently sentenced to serve 12 years behind bars by the Middelburg High Court on Tuesday.
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According to the police on October 24, 2012 a 14-year-old girl left home and told her mother that she was going to study with her friend in Witbank. The girl never returned home that night. The parents tried to call her but her phone was forever on voice mail. The following morning they went to the Witbank Police Station and reported the matter. A case of Kidnapping was opened.
The parents received a text message from their daughter’s phone number which demanded R400 000.00 in order for the girl to be released. The message further pointed out that failure to pay the money would lead to the death of the girl.
Read: Unknown suspects suffocate victim to death
The matter was transferred to the Hawks and the members of the country’s elite crime fighting unit hit the ground running and recovered the cellphone, arresting the suspect in the process. The man led the Hawks to a spot where he killed and dumped the body of the girl.
Mpumalanga Provincial Head of Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Major General Zodwa Mokoena welcome the judgement and applauded the members for their determination and thorough investigations which convinced the courts to hand out a guilty verdict and a lengthy jail time.
