Cape Town – The Bloemfontein High Court has sentenced a father to life imprisonment for murdering his three-year-old son in October last year.
Gift Hendrick Stander, 25, was convicted of strangling, wrapping the child in a plastic bag and hiding his lifeless body under the bed.
According to evidence before the court, Stander arrived at his ex-girlfriend’s home to fetch his child for a visit at his home on Friday, October 15, last year.
This came after his ex-girlfriend, 20, told him she was no longer interested in being in a relationship with him.
Stander left the home and proceeded to his home in Bloemside Phase 4 with his son.
When he failed to bring the child back home on Sunday, October 17, his ex-girlfriend began to worry and asked relatives to accompany her to Stander’s home to fetch her child.
Upon arrival at her ex’s house, the young mother made the gruesome discovery that her child was dead.
She found the child strangled, wrapped in a plastic bag and his body was stuffed under a bed.
According to provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Thabo Covan upon this discovery the police were alerted.
“The police at Bloemspruit were called to the scene, the case docket for murder was opened and the accused was arrested.
“Warrant Officer Moeketsi Solomon Mokgobo received the docket and even though there were no witnesses, managed to get a confession made in court by the accused,” Covan said.