Triple life sentence for man who raped and murdered four-year-old

A colleague of a young mother in the North West who abducted, raped and murdered her four-year-old daughter is serving three life terms behind bars. 

Bafana Mans, 26, was sentenced to the lengthy prison term this week after advocate Xolisile Philisane urged the high court in Vryburg not to deviate from the minimum prescribed sentence, saying the offence was committed on a helpless minor.

Mans, he said, showed no remorse for his actions and did not apologise to the family of Tshimologo Lotshabeng.

Police spokesperson Col Adele Myburgh said he had been behind bars since his arrest at his home in Jan Kempdorp in the Northern Cape last year after bail was denied.

Lotshabeng's naked body was found in bushes at Kgomotso village, near Taung, on May 16 2021.

"According to evidence presented before the court, Mans was a colleague and one of the people who accompanied Lotshabeng’s mother from a tavern to her friend’s house. He waited until the mother fell asleep, then kidnapped the child and took her to nearby bushes where he raped and killed her."

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.