Mom jailed for strangling son
2008-01-21 21:41
Pietermaritzburg - A 20-year-old pregnant woman, who strangled her three-year-old son, was jailed for five years with possible correctional supervision in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday.
A 10-year jail sentence was conditionally suspended.
The woman, Yolanda Radebe, of Estcourt, who pleaded guilty to the murder, said that she committed the crime out of a feeling of hopelessness, as she was destitute - the father refused to assist her and she was thrown out of her home by her mother.
She strangled the little boy with her hands, put his body in a plastic bag and disposed of it in a refuse skip.
She could not live with her guilt and confessed, she said.
She had become pregnant while at school and after the birth of her son, she returned to school and passed grade 12.
However, in August last year, she found that she was pregnant again and her mother ordered her out of their house.
She gave birth to twins at a crisis centre at Newcastle and they have since been placed in care.
Judge Piet Koen said the woman did not appear to be a danger to society and seemed to be a good candidate for rehabilitation.
She suffered trauma and has tested HIV positive.
Koen said that although she did not seem ill at present, she should receive treatment.
Koen took into consideration that she confessed to the murder when a murder conviction was not inevitable.
Koen deplored the fate that befell her little boy, saying that there were many couples who would "give anything" to have a child of their own.
Correctional Services may change the woman's jail sentence to correctional supervision after a portion of the sentence is served in jail.
- SAPA