A 26-year-old woman, Dieketseng Sello, has been handed a 13-year direct imprisonment sentence for the murder of her boyfriend, Isaac Molai Moleko, 31, in South Africa. The sentencing was delivered by the Pretoria High Court sitting in Palm Ridge on August 31, 2023. Additionally, the court ruled that Sello is unfit to possess a firearm.
The court heard that on the evening of June 18, 2021, the deceased, also known as Skills or Lai Lai, visited his shared home with Sello in Kotshong, accompanied by another woman. A confrontation between Sello and the deceased escalated into a physical altercation. Subsequently, the deceased left with the other woman but later returned to resume the fight.
During the renewed altercation, Sello repeatedly stabbed the deceased. She then requested assistance from neighbors to transport the injured man to a nearby clinic, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. The neighbors alerted the police, leading to Sello’s immediate arrest at the scene.
In court, Sello pleaded guilty to the charges against her and, through her legal representative, implored the court to consider a deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence. She cited her responsibility for four minor children and expressed remorse for her actions.
However, during the sentencing proceedings, Advocate Micheal Shivuri presented evidence that raised concerns about Sello’s character. While released on bail for this case, Sello was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison for theft in February 2023. Furthermore, she escaped while being transported from court to Sun City prison and was subsequently arrested and sentenced to one year of direct imprisonment.
Shivuri also emphasized that Sello displayed no remorse for her actions and cited a pre-sentence report compiled by a social worker, which revealed that this was not the first instance of Sello assaulting the deceased.
Judge Mlotswa, when delivering the sentence, concurred with the state’s assessment that Sello had shown no remorse. He highlighted that instead of apologizing to the deceased’s family, she had moved on with her life, formed a new relationship, and had more children. This behavior demonstrated a cold and heartless attitude.
Furthermore, Judge Mlotswa underscored the trauma inflicted upon Sello’s children as a result of her actions, depriving them of a father figure. He also stressed the seriousness and prevalence of such crimes in South Africa, emphasizing the need for the court to send a message that such offenses would not be tolerated.
The toxic relationship between the deceased and Sello had been ongoing since 2016, characterized by periods of on-again, off-again status. According to the deceased’s family, there had been prior incidents of violence, including stabbings and assaults.
“In July 2019, she hit him over the head with a beer bottle, and in November of the same year, she stabbed him with a broken beer bottle. He was admitted to the hospital, and the family filed a case. However, the charges were later dropped,” the deceased’s father revealed.
