A 33-year-old man, Lindokuhle Christopher Mhlongo, has been sentenced to two life terms and an additional five years in prison for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a seven-year-old girl, Zanokuhle Khumalo, in South Africa.
The Mtubatuba High Court sentenced Mhlongo on Friday after he pleaded guilty to crimes committed on 29 July 2024 in the Empangeni area, KwaZulu-Natal.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said in a statement that Mhlongo confessed to his landlady, who then alerted the police.
“In his plea, Mhlongo said that on the day of the incident, he was sitting on the veranda of his rental home when he saw the child playing outside. He told her to go into his room and take an R1 coin for herself from the table,” the statement read.
“The child went into the room, and he followed her, shutting the door behind them. He grabbed her and put her on the bed where he undressed her lower body and proceeded to rape her. He said seeing her powerless and in pain made him realize that what he was doing was wrong.
“Mhlongo said that he considered letting her go but then thought that she would report him. He said that he then decided to murder her. He put his hand over her mouth and nose until she stopped breathing and moving.
“Thereafter, he put her body into a bag and placed that bag into a blanket storage bag. He placed the blanket storage bag under his bed and left the house. Mhlongo said that the next morning, his conscience got the better of him, and he telephoned his landlady and told her what he had done to the deceased. He also told her where they could find the child’s body because her family members and the members of the community had been searching for her.
“In aggravation of the sentence, Advocate Sikhosiphi Sokhela handed in a Victim Impact Statement, compiled by the child’s mother and facilitated by Court Preparation Officer Sithembile Cebekhulu.
“Therein, the woman said that she is still in disbelief that her child is dead, and she doubts that she will ever get closure on what happened. She said that she feels like she is in a horrible nightmare and misses her child a lot.
“Mhlongo was sentenced to a term of life imprisonment, each for the rape and murder charges and five years imprisonment for kidnapping.
“The sentences will run concurrently resulting in the effective sentence of life imprisonment.
“The NPA commends the work done by the Prosecution and Police. It is incumbent on us to fight for justice on behalf of the victims of crime.”
