Johannesburg – An Mpumalanga man, accused of killing his epileptic seven-year-old daughter and having sex with her corpse, claimed on Thursday he had been forced to admit guilt.

 

He told the Nelspruit Circuit of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria that his lawyer forced him to plead guilty to the charges.

 

The accused, from Boschfontein village, outside Malelane, near the Swaziland border, is suspected of murdering his daughter, who had epilepsy.

 

On Thursday, his defence submitted a statement in which he pleaded guilty to murder and violating a corpse. But he distanced himself from the contents of the statement, saying he was not satisfied with his lawyer’s services.

 

According to the confession, he fetched his daughter who lived with her mother so she could visit him at his house on 15 August last year.

 

After playing for a while, the girl went to sleep in another room.

 

The next morning he woke to his daughter’s cries and found her having a seizure. Believing she was suffering and in pain, he decided to put her out her misery. He grabbed her, and beat her until she died.

 

According to the statement, he violated the corpse repeatedly, left the body in the room and went to sleep next to a nearby dam.

 

When Justice Nomsa Khumalo asked the accused if he was satisfied with the contents of the plea, he said: “No, I am not satisfied.”

 

He said he met this lawyer in court on Wednesday.

 

“He showed me photographs of the body of my deceased daughter, saying I am the one responsible for her death,” said the father.

 

“He also showed me papers and asked me to sign. He made me plead to the crime. I am not satisfied with his services.”

 

The lawyer decided to withdraw from the case and asked the court to excuse him.

 

Khumalo postponed the matter to 10 February next year for the accused to get another lawyer.

 

He is out on R1000 bail.

 

SAPA