Zarah Hector’s murderers sentenced to life in prison
THEY brutally attacked her with a hammer and then dumped her body on a farm. Yesterday the family of Zarah Hector finally got justice when her killers were sent to jail for life plus an additional 15 years in prison. Exiting the doors of the Western Cape High Court after sentencing, Zara’s family, dressed in pink T-shirts with a photo of her in the centre, said they were pleased with the sentences.
Hector’s killers, Renaldo van Rooyen and Tawfeeq Ebrahim, who were her friends at the time of the murder, each got life for the murder charge and 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The mother of two was murdered on March 15, 2016. She had been bludgeoned to death with a hammer in the garage of Van Rooyen’s home in Kuils River. Her body was found wrapped in canvas and dumped on a farm in Groot Drakenstein, 10 days after she went missing.
Her sister, Vivi-Anne Pretorius, said the sentence finally gave the family “court closure”.
“It’s been a long run (the court case). It’s been two-and-a-half years of looking after the end of Zara’s life. We have been so focused on the trial and now the healing can begin,” she said.
Her brother, Brendan Hector, said: “It won’t bring her back. This brings us back to where we started, the realisation of murder, but we have a little more reassurance that justice will be done.”
In his sentencing, Judge Lister Nuku said he had taken into consideration how both families, that of the victim and the accused, were affected.
“The accused failed to take the court in their confidence. They tampered with the scene and it is obvious her death broke her family,” he said.
Ebrahim’s family, who have been religiously attending the trial appeared shocked by the sentence. His mother stood in the gallery wide-eyed with tears streaming down as her son was cuffed and escorted to the holding cells.
The family refused to speak to the media.
Van Rooyen and Ebrahim both pleaded not guilty to the murder and robbery but were convicted three months ago by Judge Nuku who said their failure to give evidence strengthened the State’s case. –