KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Mmamonnye Ngobeni has welcomed the heavy sentences handed down to two men convicted for the murder and rape of an elderly Austrian nun last month.

Sbongiseni Phungula‚ 24‚ and Mondli Shozi‚ 25‚ were each sentenced on Friday to two life terms and an additional 18 years’ imprisonment by the Pietermaritzburg High Court for the murder and rape of 86-year-old Sister Getrud Tiefenbacher.

The victim was found strangled to death with a typewriter cord in her room at the Sacred Heart convent in the Ixopo area on April 18.

She was also suffocated with a towel after being raped by the two men‚ who also stole some of her possessions.

The culprits‚ who both had previous convictions‚ maintained that they had been drunk and had broken into the convent to steal food when they were disturbed by Tiefenbacher.

  Commenting on their conviction‚ General Ngobeni said the heavy sentences that had been handed down to the two men would send a clear message to criminals that they could face serving a long time in prison.