Uncle sacrifices nephews life for riches and blames devil
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The Pretoria High Court has handed down a life imprisonment to a 37 years old Sipho Vincent Maseko who is an uncle to the deceased 1 year old Nkazimulo Theodore Penga.
The High Court heard that the deceased had been under care of a helper on September 30th, 2020 as a result of the mother being at work. They were living at the mother’s home at Ekangala with the parents.
On the sad day, a day before Nkazimulo’s 1 year birthday, Maseko visited the homestead and found the helper with the toddler. He asked the toddler to go buy airtime at the nearby shop.
While the helper was out, Maseko strangled the child with a rope, jumped on his chest several times poured boiling water on his face and ran to hide in the bushes. When the helper returned from the shop, she found the lifeless body of the child tucked inside the bed covered. After a few hours of hiding Maseko called his family. When he heard the commotion of the community over the phone, he went to the police and handed himself over and has been in custody since.
In court he pleaded guilty to the charge of premeditated murder, in his guilty plea, he said he killed his nephew as a form of satanic sacrifice to have money, and the day he killed the child he was not himself, the devil took over him.
He also told the court that he had previously tried to kill his nephew two weeks before the incident by smothering him with his hand, but he survived because he cried. However, after the first attempt, the child sustained permanent damage which resulted in him being disabled.
During the sentencing proceedings, the prosecutor Adv. Andre Wilsenach read into the record the victim impact statement facilitated by the Court Preparation Officer Lebogang Lebese, where the mother of the child described her brother as a monster and devil himself, and told the court that the incident left her emotionally damaged. She went through a phase of consuming alcohol to try a numb the pain which resulted in her miscarrying her pregnancy because of stress, and inability to sleep.
The mother who now has a four-month-old baby said she fears for the child that what happened to her deceased son can happen again.
Presiding over the matter, Judge Mashudu Munzhelele said Maseko failed to show any remorse of his actions. Instead of taking accountability of his actions, he blamed the devil.
The court ordered that he be declared unfit to possess a firearm and that the police should conduct a search and seizure of firearms at his home. The court further ordered that the mother of the deceased be informed, should Maseko be eligible for parole and make representations.
