S’African man bags double life imprisonment terms for r*pe, murder of 7-yr-old girl

A North West High Court sitting in the Mogwase province of South Africa has sentenced a 32-year-old man, Calvin Khunwana, to two life terms for the r*pe and murder of a seven-year-old girl in Photsaneng.

Spokesman of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Henry Mamothame, in a statement on Friday, said the court further sentenced Khunwana to “five years for kidnapping and another five years for defeating the ends of justice.”

The NPA spokesman said the conviction stems from an incident that occurred on July 30 in 2020, at Photsaneng village, near Rustenburg, where a seven-year-old girl was playing at her home with two friends.

“Khunwana called the girl over to his yard which was back opposite the girl’s home.

“He then went with her inside the house and moments later her friends saw her trying to escape through the door, whereupon Khunwana apprehended her and chased her friends away, threatening to assault them before dragging the child back into the house.

“He went on to rape the child and subsequently strangled her and placed her lifeless body underneath a carpet in a storeroom,” Mamothame said.

He said evidence in court indicated that Khunwana took a pair of his sneakers and tried to sell them to source transport fares to escape the village.

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“The child was later found in his home after her friends pointed out where she was last seen. Khunwana was arrested, and he remained in custody until the trial was concluded.

“In aggravation of sentence, Advocate Benny Kalakgosi argued that the accused was well known to the deceased and he took advantage of her trust as an elderly person.

“He further argued that the accused raped a minor and killed her gruesomely, urging the court not to deviate from the minimum prescribed sentence.

“Judge President Ronald Hendricks, agreed with the state that the accused abused the trust relationship between himself and the child and showed no remorse for his actions,” Mamothame added.

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