A CHILD murderer sat quietly in the witness stand as a judge read out his judgment in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court on the East Rand.
About three metres behind Khanedzeni, tears rolled down the face of Noncebo Nyembe, a friend of Banele Khumalo's family, when she heard how the nine-year-old, Grade 3 pupil, was raped and murdered by him on August 26 2010.
Judge Ellem Jacob Francis found Norman Khanedzeni, 29, guilty on all three charges of kidnapping, rape and murdering Banele Khumalo .
Inside the packed court 7, Judge Francis said: "There is a strong indication that there was penetration of the vagina and the anus. The attack was extremely brutal.
"The body was placed on a mattress and burnt, which indicates that the assailant was a cunning and calculating person. The person who killed Banele ensured that she died a slow, painful and agonising death. This person was cruel and cold," he said.
He said the girl had been "struck several times" on the head and stabbed with a screwdriver on her back.
Khanedzeni kidnapped Banele into his room, handcuffed her, raped and murdered her after she had gone to his house to buy airtime.
That was the last time Khumalo was seen alive. The following day her body was found in a dumping site covered with Khanedzeni's duvet.
Banele's father Bongani Khumalo broke down outside the court following Khanedzeni's conviction.
Wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with his daughter's picture, the distraught father said: "I hate that boy with a passion. The decision to sit outside the courtroom was mine because I do not even want to see him."
Although he was happy Khanedzeni had been found guilty, he decried the brutality that accompanied his daughter's death.
"If he was going to kill her, why did he not at least take a gun and shoot her. Why did he have to do what he did?" - selebim@sowetan.co.za
Man guilty of raping, murdering girl
A CHILD murderer sat quietly in the witness stand as a judge read out his judgment in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court on the East Rand.
About three metres behind Khanedzeni, tears rolled down the face of Noncebo Nyembe, a friend of Banele Khumalo's family, when she heard how the nine-year-old, Grade 3 pupil, was raped and murdered by him on August 26 2010.
Judge Ellem Jacob Francis found Norman Khanedzeni, 29, guilty on all three charges of kidnapping, rape and murdering Banele Khumalo .
Inside the packed court 7, Judge Francis said: "There is a strong indication that there was penetration of the vagina and the anus. The attack was extremely brutal.
"The body was placed on a mattress and burnt, which indicates that the assailant was a cunning and calculating person. The person who killed Banele ensured that she died a slow, painful and agonising death. This person was cruel and cold," he said.
He said the girl had been "struck several times" on the head and stabbed with a screwdriver on her back.
Khanedzeni kidnapped Banele into his room, handcuffed her, raped and murdered her after she had gone to his house to buy airtime.
That was the last time Khumalo was seen alive. The following day her body was found in a dumping site covered with Khanedzeni's duvet.
Banele's father Bongani Khumalo broke down outside the court following Khanedzeni's conviction.
Wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with his daughter's picture, the distraught father said: "I hate that boy with a passion. The decision to sit outside the courtroom was mine because I do not even want to see him."
Although he was happy Khanedzeni had been found guilty, he decried the brutality that accompanied his daughter's death.
"If he was going to kill her, why did he not at least take a gun and shoot her. Why did he have to do what he did?" - selebim@sowetan.co.za
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