This story contains disturbing content that might upset sensitive readers.
A mother and her brother have been sentenced to three life terms and a further 18 months imprisonment each, following the brutal ritual killing of a two-year-old girl.
Twenty-eight-year-old Esther Mwenda Brown and her 26-year-old brother Mike were sentenced in the High Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Josephine Athalia Bombando was taken to a hotel in Midrand in April of 2021 where she was raped and strangled by her mother and uncle.
The spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority Phindi Mjonondwane says the autopsy revealed that the toddler had died due to blunt force trauma to the neck that fractured her thyroid.
She says the hotel room where the gruesome acts took place was covered in crucifix signs made from oil that was drawn on all the room's mirrors and shiny surfaces.
Josephine also suffered injuries to her private parts.
The siblings took Josephine's lifeless body to the hotel reception where paramedics were called.
The child was declared dead and the mother and her brother were arrested.
