Wednesday, June 16, 2010
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TWO men who “barbarically, ferociously, brutally and callously” murdered a “vulnerable” Somali family of four in 2008 were yesterday each sentenced to four life terms in prison .Mandla Thomas, 26, and Melikhaya Ncapayi, 27, hacked Sahra Omar Farah, 46 and her three children – Muhamed Issa Osman, 19, Isse Chaasho Osman, 12, and Ibrahim Isse Osman, 14 – to death in their small Thambo village home.
The little village nestles beneath a hill about halfway between Whittlesea and Queenstown.
The two men also stole the family’s possessions and groceries from their spaza shop adjacent to their home.
Judge Clive Plasket yesterday described the crimes as “depraved and barbaric”.
“One can only imagine the terror that the deceased must have endured when the accused broke into their home and attacked them, and the painful deaths the deceased endured at their hands.
“As if to underscore the gross lack of respect for the human dignity of the deceased, the accused saw fit to douse their bodies with paraffin.”
Each member of the family was stabbed dozens of times in the face neck and torso. Plasket said the young family had been particularly vulnerable in that they were very young, female, or both.
He said although both men came from poor and rural backgrounds and had little education, the “callous, brutal and senseless nature” of their crimes out-weighed their personal circumstances.
Family of the victims yesterday expressed relief at the result. They said they believed the crimes were opportunistic and not xenophobic in nature.
Farah’s sister, Saido Issa Osman, said justice had been done but her heart was still “filled with grief”.
“But I thank South Africa, the police involved, the prosecutor and the judge for putting these men behind bars.”
Farah’s cousins, Abdulla Hassan Ahmed and Zahra Yusuf, said they, too, were pleased with the outcome. “It won’t bring our family back but at least these two men won’t be allowed back into society,” said Ahmed.
Plasket also sentenced Thomas to a further 17 years’ imprisonment and Ncapayi to a further 15 years’ imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances. The sentences will run concurrently.
State advocate Glenn Turner prosecuted. Advocate Chris Schuring defended Ncapayi and Mr Alan De Jager defended Thomas. — DDR
Source: Daily Dispatch Online