Africa-Press – South-Africa. A Northern Cape man has been given a double life sentence for raping and murdering his mother.
Paul Conradie, 39, was accused of attacking his mother on Sunday, 2 February 2020 in Modder River.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mojalefa Senokoatsane said Conradie and his mother had attended church that day, followed by lunch at the church. They had then gone to drink homemade ginger beer.
Later, when his mother had gone to lie down under a tree, Conradie had raped and then strangled her, the court heard.
According to the Diamond Fields Advertiser, during the trial, witnesses said the 65-year-old woman was found lying on the ground with her dress pulled up to her waist. Conradie was reportedly found lying next to her.
According to police spokesperson Captain Olebogeng Tawana, Conradie was arrested the next day.
He has been in custody ever since, after he was denied bail.
Warrant Officer Attie Browers, from the Kimberley Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, was assigned to investigate the case and was commended by provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Koliswa Otola for his “exceptional investigative work”.
“Justice has been served. The country is currently facing a scourge of gender-based violence. I am confident that the sentence will deter criminals committing crimes against women and children,” Otola added.
During the mitigation of the sentence, the prosecution, represented by senior State advocate Quinton Hollander, argued that the rape and murder of a mother by her son was “a horrendous act”, and that the court should not deviate from the maximum sentence of life imprisonment, said Senokoatsane.
“During sentencing, the High Court judge put it to the accused that he could not find any compelling and mitigating circumstances to deviate from the prescribed sentences. The court found the accused guilty and he was sentenced to life imprisonment for each charge.”
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