A 28-year-old man was sentenced for the rape and murder of a 21-year-old woman he was in a relationship with.
Muzonwukhona Khumbulani Mthethwa forcefully raped his 21-year-old girlfriend, beat her and then strangled her to death.
While disposing of her body, the family of the deceased young woman, who were about to plough the fields, watched in horror as Mthethwa dragged the body across the field to the riverbank. He then left her there and casually walked away. The family soon realised it was one of their own whom he had murdered.
On Tuesday November 14, the Empangeni Regional Court sentenced Mthethwa, 28, to two terms of life imprisonment for the rape and murder of a 21-year-old woman, in September 2021, in the Kwasokhulu area.
Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, regional spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed that Mthethwa had been in a relationship with the woman.
While Mthethwa was disposing of the body, the woman’s mother and her two brothers had been on their way to plough the fields when they found the woman’s shoes and sunglasses on the ground. They realised that she had been wearing these items the day before, when they had last seen her. They became suspicious that something may have happened to her, and they followed some footprints which led to the Msunduzi river, said Ms Ramkisson-Kara.
“There they saw Mthethwa, (whom they immediately recognised), dragging the body of a female; and they decided to hide behind some trees to see what he was doing,” said Ms Ramkisson-Kara.
“They then realised that the body he was dragging was actually their family member, the deceased. The body was naked from the waist down, and Mthethwa left her near the river and walked away. Since he was walking in their direction, they came out of their hiding place and approached him. They pretended as if they hadn’t seen what he had done and asked him if he had seen the deceased. He told them to go to the police and report her missing; and he walked away.”
The family members went to the police station to report what they had seen and the police then discovered the body. A postmortem report found the cause of death to be strangulation, throttling with a rope around the neck and assault all over the body. Mr Mthethwa went missing following this incident and was only charged in connection with this case after he was arrested for an unrelated case of robbery.
“In court, Regional Court Prosecutor Xolani Bhekisisa Ndlela, led the evidence of the mother and her two sons who had seen Mthethwa disposing of the body. The state also led the evidence of the medical doctor who testified on the postmortem results, as well as the forceful sexual penetration of the deceased.
“In aggravation of sentence, Ndlela submitted a Victim Impact Statement compiled by the deceased’s sister and facilitated by Court Preparation Officer Seneliso Sibanda. In her statement she said that her sister’s death has put them in a financial predicament since none of them were employed,” said Ms Ramkisson-Kara.
In addition to the life sentence, the court found Mthethwa unfit to possess a firearm.