E-Paper
14-yr-old South African Indian girl convicted of murder
When the case came up 2 yrs ago, S Africans were shocked to know that a 12-yr-old had masterminded the murder of her grandmother.
A 14-year-old South African Indian girl has set a dubious record in Pietermaritzburg by becoming the country's youngest female to be convicted of murder.
The girl, whose name is not revealed because of her age, would know her fate when she is sentenced mid-December for having hired killers when she was just 12 to murder her grandmother Radha Govender, 59, a businesswoman.
When the case came up two years ago, the nation was shocked to know that a 12-year-old had masterminded the killing of Govender.
The woman was strangled and stabbed by two killers, Sipho Hadebe and Vusinmusi Tshabalala, who received jewellery and goods from Govender's house in return.
The killers, each serving 25 years in prison, turned state witnesses to implicate the girl.
Judge Kevin Swain released the girl to the custody of her mother. The girl wept uncontrollably in the arms of her mother as the judge delivered his ruling Friday.
The judge turned down a plea by the state to send the girl to prison until sentencing, saying she was too young to spend two months in custody, while her sentence was finalised.