A Free State man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for assaulting his girlfriend to death and leaving her on the road.
Motlalepula John Mokoena, 41, was sentenced by the Bethlehem Regional Court on Tuesday.
Provincial police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Mmako Mophiring, said that Mokoena murdered his girlfriend, Dipuo Maria Modibedi, 33, at Steilfontein Farm in the district of Petrus Steyn in July 2023.
Mophiring stated that police received a call after 10pm about the body of a woman lying on the road.
“It was discovered that it was the body of the late Maria Modibedi who was assaulted badly by her boyfriend who was later found and arrested,” he said.
Mophiring added that Modibedi was found with a fatal open wound on her head and there were sticks left next to her body.
“She was declared dead by the ambulance personnel. A case of murder was opened, and the accused was arrested,’’ he added.
Mophiring said that Mokoena has been in custody since his arrest.
In another matter, IOL reported earlier this month that Sergeant Monday Shimondzo Ngobeni, 43, was found guilty in the Graskop Magistrate’s Court for the murder of his girlfriend, 37-year-old Agnes Maluleka.
The murder incident took place on June 27, 2023 at Maluleka’s workplace, where she was employed as a cashier.
According to Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesperson, Phaladi Shuping, on the day of the incident, Sergeant Ngobeni went to Maluleka's workplace and accused her of cheating on him.
“They argued until Sergeant Ngobeni took out his service pistol, and shot Maluleka. She was hit on the chest and fell behind the counter.
“Sergeant Ngobeni walked to her and shot her again, twice on the head.”
Shuping said the security officer on duty locked Ngobeni inside the store and called the police.