Poppie van der Merwe was kicked‚ thrown against walls and furniture and subjected to repeated beatings by her step-father and mother‚ until her death at the age of three. On Thursday‚ police are hoping the life prison terms imposed on them will serve as a deterrent to other child abusers.
Kobus Koekemoer‚ 45‚ and his wife Louisa Koekemoer‚ 47‚ were sentenced in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. The step-father had been arrested in October 2016 for killing the child at their home in Mamogaleskraal near Brits. His wife was arrested in December that year. The court heard that the assaults began soon after their marriage‚ about a year before Poppie's death.
The court also declared both of the Koekemoers to be unsuitable to work with children in future.
The North West provincial police commissioner‚ Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane‚ commended Brits detectives Sergeant Mpho Matome‚ Sergeant Patrick Radebe and Sergeant Lucas Putu for "a sterling job" which helped to ensure the child killers got maximum sentences.
She expressed optimism that the sentences would serve as a deterrent to those who considered committing crimes against women or children.
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