Man behind bars for 66 stabbings inflicted on girl (11)
He stabbed and killed a minor child who was defenceless, vulnerable, and could not protect herself because her mother did not agree to his pursuit of a love relationship.
The Pretoria High Court handed down a hefty sentence to Conwell Mongezi Chauke of Lotus Gardens to life imprisonment for stabbing 11-year-old Khothato Welhelmina Tshabalala 66 times.
The high court also added another six years of direct imprisonment for the kidnapping.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the court ordered that the sentences run concurrently and declared Chauke unfit to possess a firearm.
She said on December 29, 2020, Chauke called the mother of the deceased, who was his prayer group member and prayer partner, at her workplace.
“Chauke then began to threaten the mother because she did not agree to meet with him the previous day and believed that she was taking him for a fool as he was interested in pursuing a love relationship with her,” said Mahanjana.
In the afternoon of that same day, Chauke went to Mamelodi East, where the minor child and her mother lived, and upon arrival found the child playing with her younger sister and the neighbour’s child outside their neighbour’s house.
Mahanjana said he then lured the child under the pretence that he wanted to collect his belongings from her home.
“When they got inside, Chauke stabbed the child 66 times, covered her body with linen on top of her bed and fled the scene. When the neighbours could not find the child, they went to look for her at her house where they found her deceased body.”
Police were called, and two days after the incident on December 31, 2020, Chauke handed himself over at the Lyttleton police station and has been in custody since.
In court, Chauke denied kidnapping the child and only pleaded guilty to the charge of murder and attributed his actions to the anger he felt towards the mother of the child.
However, the state adduced evidence, which proved that indeed Chauke lured and kidnapped the child.
Mahanjana added that during sentence proceedings, his legal representative asked the court to consider the three years he spent in prison awaiting the finalisation of his trial when imposing the sentence.
Though he has previous convictions for theft, he is a first-time offender of violent crimes.
In aggravation of sentence, the state prosecutor Advocate Sipho Lalane argued that even though Chauke pleaded guilty to the charge of murder, he did not show remorse but was rather regretful of his actions.
Furthermore, Lalane said Chauke was convicted of a serious crime that is prevalent in the county. He stabbed and killed a minor child who was defenceless, vulnerable, and could not protect herself because her mother did not agree to his pursuit of a love relationship.
“Lalani also handed in two Victim Impact Statements (VIS), where the mother of the deceased expressed that since her child was killed, she is not psychologically well and that Chauke took away her best friend.”
In her VIS, the deceased sister mentioned that she is always lonely because she does not have anyone to play with, as the deceased was also a friend to her.
She also added that her school performance has declined after losing her sister.
When handing down the sentence, Judge Jacobus Johannes Strijdom agreed with the state that Chauke was convicted of a serious offence that violated the deceased constitutional right to life.
He was merciless when stabbing the child 66 times, which shows that he is a danger to society and that it is the court’s responsibility to protect society from offenders like him.
Moreover, the interest of justice outweighs his circumstances; therefore, the court found no substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from imposing the prescribed minimum sentence.
The NPA welcomed the sentence and hopes that it will send a strong message that it will ensure that offenders who commit such violent crimes against women and children don’t have a place in society.
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