Africa-Press – South-Africa. A Free State woman was sentenced to 28 years behind bars for murdering her husband and two children.
The 31-year-old woman from Bethlehem, poisoned her 49-year-old husband and her three daughters – aged 14, 11 and 10. The 11-year-old child survived, while the others died on 22 June after eating the poisoned food.
She was also given 10 years for the attempted murder of a third child. The woman cannot be named to protect the identity of the surviving child.
The Free State High court ordered the sentences to run concurrently, effectively making her sentence 28 years.
“She went to town on 17 June 2022 to buy poison known as Temik and told her sister, who was with her, that she was buying it to poison rats at their house,” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phaladi Shuping.
The woman poured the poison into a pot of beans she had prepared for breakfast. Before leaving for school, the children had the meal, and her husband packed some for lunch.
She also packed some for herself but did not eat because her sister was with her.
“The teachers called [the woman] after transporting the three children to the clinic following their fainting. [Two of the children] passed on at the clinic, and the third was hospitalised, where she recovered. The husband also fell ill at work and was rushed to Dihlabeng Regional Hospital, but he also died,” said Shuping.
According to Shuping, the woman claimed she had endured abuse in her marriage.
Prosecutor advocate Dansi Mpemvane asked the court to grant the woman a maximum sentence saying this would “deter others from committing a similar crime”.
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