The Limpopo High Court has sentenced Kgopotso Mmotse Koma of Mamone village in Jane Furse to two life terms for raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl in 2019.
The court on Thursday ordered the sentence of murder should run concurrently with the sentence of rape, meaning the effective sentence Koma, 29, should serve is life imprisonment. He pleaded not guilty.
The court heard that on June 8 2019 Pompo Hope Seponye was at home in Mamone Village playing when Koma asked her to go buy him cigarettes at a tuck shop.
He followed Seponye to the shop and met her while on her way back. He then took her to a nearby house owned by his friend, where he raped and strangled her.
“As it was getting late, Seponye’s parents and community members started searching for her and they found her in the house lying on the bed, half-naked and dead. Koma fled from the scene and the police arrested him after a few days,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said.
Arguing in aggravation of sentence, prosecutor advocate Rendani Mulaudzi said Koma did not show remorse. Mulaudzi said he took advantage of Seponye’s vulnerability.
“She said Koma violated Seponye’s right to life and due to this offence the family had to move to another province as they lived in fear that a similar incident could take place.”
Limpopo director of public prosecutions Ivy Thenga welcomed the sentence and urged the public to fight against violence towards women and children.
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