Pretoria - After numerous court appearances, Sipho Nkosi, who was charged with attempted murder after he allegedly slit the throat of an eight-year-old girl in Mamelodi, has been found guilty.
Nkosi was the child’s mother’s boyfriend at the time and the attack occurred shortly after he had assaulted the mother, following an argument. Before the brutal attack, he had reportedly been asked to leave.
According to civil rights group #NotInMyName, Nkosi will return to court next month for sentencing.
“Nkosi appeared at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court (on Tuesday) and was found guilty of attempted murder. He will return on the 10th of May for sentencing,” said #NotInMyName spokesperson Mo Senne.
Nkosi was in a relationship with the mother of the eight-year-old girl at the time of the incident in April last year.
#NotInMyName has repeated its calls for Nkosi to be sentenced to life in jail.
“#NotInMyName expects nothing less than a life sentence for this perpetrator who has two previous gender-based violence convictions. We call on the justice system to re-evaluate their processes when it comes to bail and parole, as well as the rehabilitation measures used to assess their fitness to be released back into the society,” said Senne.
“Perpetrators of gender-based violence rarely ever offend once. This is indicative of a fault in the justice system and correctional services.”
According to #NotInMyName, the eight-year-old Mamelodi girl is fighting for her life at a Pretoria East hospital after Nkosi slit her throat “execution-style”.
IOL