A mother who killed her two children after allegedly finding out that her husband was continuously cheating on her and also not helping take care of the children has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars.
Lehlogonolo Mary Bokaba, 29, was sentenced in the Pretoria high court this week after she killed her two-month-old and her eight-year-old girls in May 2022.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, Bokaba had told court that said she felt overwhelmed with the state of her relationship with her partner and decided to kill herself and her children.
According to Mahanjana, Bokaba, who was staying with her husband in a backroom in his parents’ yard, decided on May 12 2022 that she wanted out of the marriage.
Two days later, Bokaba called her mother to help her move out. Bokaba told the court that on the day of the move she woke up feeling overwhelmed with the state of her relationship with her husband and decided to kill herself and her children “to save them from the consequence of growing up without a mother”.
After killing the children, Bokaba attempted suicide but was unsuccessful, said Mahanjana.
She then took the dead children, placed them on the bed and gave her mother-in-law a missed call.
“The incident was discovered by the mother-in-law after received a missed call from Bokaba.
“When the mother-in-law went to the backroom to check, she found the bodies of the children on top of the bed. Police were called and Bokaba was arrested and has been in custody since,” Mahanjana said.
Bokaba pleaded guilty during the trial. Prosecutor Adv Piet Luyt argued during aggravation of sentence that Bokaba committed a serious offence which had resulted in loss of life of two minor children and severe emotional trauma for the victims’ families who are still suffering from unresolved trauma.
When handing down the sentence, judge Mashudu Munzhelele found that there were substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of 15 years because Bokaba did not waste the court’s time.
Munzhelele said Bokaba had pleaded guilty, was a first-time offender and that she had committed the offences under emotional distress.
Munzhelele also made a plea that information should be made available to help women who feel they don’t have a way out. Sowetan.
