Killer husband’s appeal dimissed

Sharon Mathala

20 -year jail sentence upheld

A killer husband currently serving a 20 -year jail sentence for his wife’s murder recently approached the Court of Appeal (CoA) in an effort to reduce his prison time.

However the CoA panel consisting of justices Leatile Dambe, Monametsi Gaongalelwe and Barnabas Nyamadzabo refused to entertain Mogomotsi Mothuti’s appeal.

Facts of the matter are that Mothuti brutally stabbed and killed his wife in November 2011. According to a number of witnesses, Mothuti arrived at the deceased house at around 11am and shortly after that a fight ensued between the couple.

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The heated fight got so intense until Mothuti overpowered his wife, pinned her to the ground before he repeatedly stabbed her to death.

He was suspicious that his wife was cheating on him. In March 2020 the high court found Mothuti guilty of murder with extenuating circumstances which entitled the trial court to exercise its discretion and impose a sentence lesser than the death penalty.

Dismissing his appeal and upholding the 20 -year sentence, the CoA ruled that it was imperative that the courts must be seen to punish boyfriends and husbands who kill their partners.

“In this case the judge below properly imposed a sentence of 20 years imprisonment for the offence of murder and sentence meets the justice of the matter. I am reinforced in my view by the remarks made by this court in February 2013 regarding cases where young women keep losing their lives at the hands of jealous lovers or husbands,” the judgment reads in part.

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