KEY POINTS
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A 35-year-old Durban mother was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to killing her three-year-old daughter during a fit of rage.
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The court acknowledged the woman’s traumatic past, mental health challenges, and three years of pre-trial custody in handing down a reduced sentence.
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The victim’s foster mother expressed heartbreak, saying she would have taken the child back if informed the biological mother was struggling to cope.
A 35-year-old Durban woman who admitted to the brutal killing of her three-year-old daughter has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Durban High Court.
The tragic incident, which occurred in May 2022, shocked the community and raised renewed concerns about child abuse and the mental health challenges faced by struggling parents.
The Durban woman pleaded guilty to charges of murder and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm under a Section 112 plea agreement. According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in KwaZulu-Natal, she described a troubled past that included years of abuse and trauma.
“She said that she had a difficult childhood and had witnessed and been subjected to violence,” stated NPA spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara. “She also said that she was raped at the age of 17, a trauma that led her to attempt suicide.”
In 2019, the accused was homeless and residing in a shelter when she gave birth to the child who would later become the victim. IOL reports that she met a woman online who offered to foster the child, and the girl remained with that foster mother for nearly three years.
Durban woman breaks down after husband’s departure ends in tragedy
The Durban woman married a man residing in the United Kingdom who later encouraged her to reclaim her daughter so they could live together as a family. The child returned to live with her biological mother shortly before the fatal incident. However, the husband’s South African visa expired, forcing him to leave the country and leaving the woman alone to care for three children, aged nine, three, and one.
“She told the court that she struggled to cope and would often beat her two older children in fits of anger,” the NPA noted.
On May 31, 2022, after a difficult day caring for her glaucoma-stricken infant, the situation spiraled out of control. According to her plea statement, the woman became overwhelmed when her youngest child refused to eat and began crying. When the three-year-old daughter also refused food and soiled herself, the mother’s frustration turned violent.
“She said she hit the deceased with a rolling pin all over her body and on the head,” the court heard. “She also admitted to further beating the child during bath time and eventually strangling her.”
The attack was witnessed by her nine-year-old daughter, who tried to intervene, but the mother was reportedly consumed by rage. Upon realizing the child had stopped breathing, she panicked, dressed her, wrapped her in a blanket, and called her husband in the UK. He then alerted a doctor, and the police were contacted.
In a heart-wrenching victim impact statement, the foster mother described the emotional devastation caused by the child’s death.
“She said that she had taken care of the deceased since she was just three weeks old and would have gladly taken her back had she known the mother was struggling,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
The court considered several mitigating factors in deviating from the minimum life sentence for murder. These included the mother’s traumatic past, her willingness to plead guilty, her time already spent in custody, and her need for medication and mental health support.
Nonetheless, the 20-year sentence highlights the severe consequences of unchecked mental and emotional distress, particularly in vulnerable family settings.
Child protection groups have called for more robust social support systems to help parents in crisis, including access to mental health services, shelters, and community interventions before tragedies occur.
