MOPANI – A police inspector, Simon Racheku (38) of Medinyeng village in the Bolobedu area will spend the remaining part of his life behind bars. The murder case against him was finalised in the Tzaneen High Court last Friday.

The incident relating to the case took place at Medinyeng village during the night of June 25, 2000.

The court heard that during the night the incident occurred, the accused had a chilling argument with his wife, Margaret Rasekgala (29). The argument centred on the accusation that the wife had an affair with another man.

During the argument the accused produced a fire-arm and shot the deceased in the head killing her instantly. During the ordeal the accused also shot and injured his child. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and a further 15 years for attempted murder.

In a separate incident two other men James Makwela (25) of Lenyenye Township and Thomas Malatjie (33) of Mhlava village were each sentenced to life imprisonment for murder by the same court on the same day. The two were tried for an incident that took place at Mhlava village near Tzaneen during the night of October 17, 1999.

The court heard that during the said night the accused kidnapped the deceased, Norman Mhlari (26) and his friend and locked them inside a house. That is where they assaulted them with various objects including pick heads and hammers.

The deceased and his friend were being accused of stealing some articles from one of the accused's house. The deceased died at the scene while his friend was taken to the local hospital in a critical condition where he later recovered.

In addition to the life imprisonment sentence, they were sentenced for a further 10 years for attempted murder. For kidnapping they each received a 12-year jail term.

In a statement issued this week, the police in the Mopani Area have praised the justice system for what they described as a "job well done".