Two people who kidnapped an eight-year-old girl from school and murdered her after failing to get a ransom payment from her cash-strapped family are now serving life sentences.
Bokamoso Shabe from Thabong, Welkom, in the Free State, died in June 2021.
Police spokesperson Capt Stephen Thakeng said officers welcome the sentences as “justice served”.
Bokamoso was lured from school by Lerato Mirriam Khitsane, under the guise of being a friend of her mother, who was selling clothes.
A ransom demand of R50,000 for the release of the child was made to the family. As the negotiations ensued, with the family protesting they could not pay, the ransom was brought down to R3,000.
The family was still unable to pay and negotiations broke down.
Police arrested Stompi Motsika Rapuleng three days after the kidnap.
This led to the discovery of Bokamoso's body, wrapped in a blue blanket, dumped near the road in an open field between Riebeeckstad and Thabong.
Thakeng said the two were tried in the Welkom and Bloemfontein high courts on charges of murder, rape, kidnapping and extortion.
Rapuleng, 48, was given life sentences for rape and murder, eight years for kidnapping and five years for extortion.
He was on parole for a murder committed in Clarens at the time of his arrest.
Khitsane, 46, was given life sentences for rape and murder, 15 years for kidnapping and five years for extortion
The court ordered they be entered in the National Register for Sexual Offenders and deemed unfit to work with children.
TimesLIVE
Life in jail for killers of schoolgirl, 8, after botched ransom demand
One of Bokamoso Shabe's killers was out on parole at time of her murder in 2021
Image: SAPS
Two people who kidnapped an eight-year-old girl from school and murdered her after failing to get a ransom payment from her cash-strapped family are now serving life sentences.
Bokamoso Shabe from Thabong, Welkom, in the Free State, died in June 2021.
Police spokesperson Capt Stephen Thakeng said officers welcome the sentences as “justice served”.
Bokamoso was lured from school by Lerato Mirriam Khitsane, under the guise of being a friend of her mother, who was selling clothes.
A ransom demand of R50,000 for the release of the child was made to the family. As the negotiations ensued, with the family protesting they could not pay, the ransom was brought down to R3,000.
The family was still unable to pay and negotiations broke down.
Police arrested Stompi Motsika Rapuleng three days after the kidnap.
This led to the discovery of Bokamoso's body, wrapped in a blue blanket, dumped near the road in an open field between Riebeeckstad and Thabong.
Thakeng said the two were tried in the Welkom and Bloemfontein high courts on charges of murder, rape, kidnapping and extortion.
Rapuleng, 48, was given life sentences for rape and murder, eight years for kidnapping and five years for extortion.
He was on parole for a murder committed in Clarens at the time of his arrest.
Khitsane, 46, was given life sentences for rape and murder, 15 years for kidnapping and five years for extortion
The court ordered they be entered in the National Register for Sexual Offenders and deemed unfit to work with children.
TimesLIVE
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