A mother and her brother will be spending the rest of their lives in prison for the rape and murder of her 2-year-old daughter Josephine Athalia Bombando. The little girl was raped and killed at a hotel in Midrand in April 2021. 

THE SENTENCE

The siblings Esther Mwenda Brown, and her brother Mike Mwenda Brown who are originally from Congo were sentenced to three life terms and a further 18 months imprisonment each, for murder, rape, and the contravention of the Immigration Act. They are in the country illegal after their visas expired.

The Johannesburg High Court heard that Josephine died in a ritual killing at a hotel in Midrand. The pair booked a room at hotel in the morning of the incident and spent some time there until they went to hotel the reception carrying the lifeless body of the child. The staff who were shocked called the paramedics who declared Josephine dead on the scene. 

POLICE UNCOVERED RUTUAL

The police were called, and the siblings were arrested following investigations into the room they booked. It is alleged that there were crucifixion signs made with oil on the mirrors and anything shiny that was in the room. The little girl's autopsy report indicated that her death was because of the ?application of external pressure to the neck, that left herthyroid fractured and blunt force trauma to the head. She further suffered injuries to her private parts, confirming that she was raped.

NOT REMORSEFUL

State prosecutor Advocate Paul Nel pleaded with the court for a prescribed life sentence for the pair. "The rape and murder were premeditated as part of a ritual killing. The most aggravating factor was that these acts were done by the deceased's own mother and uncle, whom the deceased trusted and looked to for protection. Their faces must have been the last images she saw whilst she was strangled to death, "said Advocate Nel. Nel also argued that the accused showed no remorse for their actions and had remained silent in the face of overwhelming evidence that they had tortured the deceased in a most gruesome way.

Judge Mohamed Ismail remarked that the siblings showed no mercy when they violated the tender body of a defenseless child, and thereafter took her life in an evil way. "The child died an agonising death at the hands of people she knew and loved", he said. He added that the court never got to establish the reason behind Bombando's murder as the pair did not state their version in court, a sign of lack of accountability and remorse.