Couple gets 25 years imprisonment each for killing their 18months old daughter

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Photo: Supplied \NPA

Mpumalanga High Court sitting in Graskop has handed down 25 years imprisonment each to a couple for killing their 18 months old daughter.

NPA Spokesperson in Mpumalanga Monica Nyuswa said that the High Court heard that the incident occurred in September 2019 where the convicted couple from Burgersfort at one night took the deceased daughter to the mountains around Lydenburg where they killed her.

“Upon their arrival, they immersed the victim in a bucket full of water with her head facing down until she died. They then threw her lifeless body in the bushes and went back to their place of residence.”

“The accused parents kept on asking the whereabouts of the deceased and they could not give a proper response. The matter was reported to the police and they were arrested. An intensified search was conducted and the body was never found.”

Nyuswa added that the couple, 31 years old Fanni Poloane and 32 years old Keletso Sesi Maimela ended up testifying against each other in court where one accused the other of being the mastermind of the premeditated murder.

Couple’s statements about each in court were disputed by family members who were turned into state witnesses. They were found guilty and convicted of premeditated murder and defeating the ends of justice.