THE 18-year prison sentence meted out to a mother and father who raped and beat to death their 10-month-old child has been met with disbelief and outrage.
Yesterday, the Johannesburg High Court sentenced the mother, 34, and father, 37, pictured , each to four years for culpable homicide, three years for child abuse and 15 years for rape. The rape and culpable homicide sentences will run concurrently.
The two could be eligible for parole after about 13 years.
One of the factors Judge Majake Mabesele took into account was the impact of their jail time on their other children - the dead baby's twin brother, now two-and-a-half years old, and a six-month-old boy.
The couple were arrested days after their daughter was found dead in Randfontein on the West Rand in March last year.
During the trial, Judge Mabesele outlined how the baby had suffocated after breathing became too hard because of her fractured ribs. She also had a broken arm, leg and collarbone, as well as abdominal, vaginal and anal bruising. She had also been raped.
Mabesele also took into account the arguments put forward by the couple in mitigation of sentence, including that they each had abusive fathers.
The baby's father said he planned to appeal both the sentence and conviction.
NGO Women and Men Against Child Abuse spokeswoman Tania Otto said: "We believe that rape should carry a life sentence. It must not be forgotten that the baby suffered horribly over a long period of time at the hands of her cruel and brutal parents."
Outrage over sentences for baby's killer parents
THE 18-year prison sentence meted out to a mother and father who raped and beat to death their 10-month-old child has been met with disbelief and outrage.
Yesterday, the Johannesburg High Court sentenced the mother, 34, and father, 37, pictured , each to four years for culpable homicide, three years for child abuse and 15 years for rape. The rape and culpable homicide sentences will run concurrently.
The two could be eligible for parole after about 13 years.
One of the factors Judge Majake Mabesele took into account was the impact of their jail time on their other children - the dead baby's twin brother, now two-and-a-half years old, and a six-month-old boy.
The couple were arrested days after their daughter was found dead in Randfontein on the West Rand in March last year.
During the trial, Judge Mabesele outlined how the baby had suffocated after breathing became too hard because of her fractured ribs. She also had a broken arm, leg and collarbone, as well as abdominal, vaginal and anal bruising. She had also been raped.
Mabesele also took into account the arguments put forward by the couple in mitigation of sentence, including that they each had abusive fathers.
The baby's father said he planned to appeal both the sentence and conviction.
NGO Women and Men Against Child Abuse spokeswoman Tania Otto said: "We believe that rape should carry a life sentence. It must not be forgotten that the baby suffered horribly over a long period of time at the hands of her cruel and brutal parents."
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