- A 30-year-old man has been found guilty of stabbing a woman to death.
- The man was found to have killed the woman – his child's mother – during an argument.
- She was left to bleed to death next to her toddler, the court heard.
A Mpumalanga man has been handed a life sentence for the murder of the mother of his child.
The sentence was handed down in the Mpumalanga High Court sitting in Breyten on Tuesday.
The court found the man, whose name has been withheld for the protection of the child, murdered the mother of his daughter at Emzinoni near Bethal on 3 September 2018.
"The decision to sentence the 30-year-old man was reached after overwhelming evidence was presented in court which revealed details of how he brutally stabbed his 23-year-old partner to death," police spokesperson Colonel Donald Mdhluli said.
On the day of the murder, he went to visit the victim at around 09:00, Mdhluli said. She was living with her aunt and the child.
"An argument ensued between them in the presence of their child, which turned violent, and he brutally stabbed her. He then fled the scene, leaving her bleeding profusely with the toddler next to her," Mdhluli said.
The victim's body was later discovered by her aunt.
"The police at Emzinoni as well as the paramedics were informed about the incident, and the woman was certified dead at the scene, and a murder case was opened. The case docket was assigned to the Mpumalanga Provincial Investigation Unit," Mdhluli said.
A manhunt was launched, and the man was arrested in Embalenhle in August 2020 and charged with murder.
"The State presented a watertight case against the accused, and he was eventually convicted and sentenced... He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder charge. The court also declared him unfit to possess a firearm," Mdhluli said.
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