Stepmother maintains hitting stepdaughter was a ‘mistake’

A stepmother who struck her stepdaughter who later died after a heated altercation while on an overseas holiday maintains it was a “mistake”.

“It was never my intention to hit her‚ but in the moment of anger it just happened without thinking‚” Marietjie Vosloo said on Wednesday outside a court in Mauritius after she was found guilty of assault.

Mundolene Vosloo‚ a former pupil at Hugenote High School in Springs‚ collapsed after Marietjie hit her at the Riu Creole hotel in Le Morne in October 2016. They were engaged in a heated argument over towels at the resort’s swimming pool.

The argument continued inside the hotel‚ where Marietjie struck Mundolene. Mundolene collapsed in a corridor and was declared dead shortly afterwards.

An autopsy revealed that the teenager had bleeding on the brain after the family holiday ended tragically.

Marietjie addressed Mauritian media outside the court.

“Every day is guilt [sic]‚ because I loved her like my own daughter. Whether she was not my daughter‚ she was like my own daughter. So‚ for me‚ I also lost a child.”

Marietjie said her family hired an au pair to take care of her 11-year-old son in South Africa‚ because her husband works abroad.

“There’s no family to look after him. I really want to go to be with my son.”

Defimedia reported that Magistrate Navina Pursuramen said judgment would be handed down on Monday. Marietjie has been in jail for 17 months.