Mother of Chevonne Rusch ‘showed no remorse’
A child protection organisation says the mother sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a two-year-old Gauteng girl, Chevonne Rusch, showed no remorse throughout the trial.
Women and Men Against Child Abuse has welcomed the life sentences handed down to Rochelle Botha and her partner Stefan van Niekerk.
The pair were convicted of Chevonne's murder and the abuse of her siblings last year.
The toddler was taken to a clinic in Primrose, east of Johannesburg, in 2022 with multiple bruises and severe injuries.
She later died from severe bleeding on her brain after head trauma.
Botha and Van Niekerk were arrested three months later and subsequently found guilty of murder and rape.
READ: Chevonne Rusch’s parents handed hefty jail sentences
The Johannesburg High Court sentenced the pair to life plus 25 years each on Monday.
The organisation's Luke Lamprecht took the stand in aggravation of sentence.
"We are very pleased with the sentences. On all of the charges that they were found guilty on, they got given good sentences, but they are all running concurrently. What was distressing though is that the mother started crying hysterically after she was sentenced, while she has never cried once during the trial."
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