Metro cop gets 18 years for killing his lover

A TSHWANE metro police constable found guilty of strangling his girlfriend and burning her body was yesterday sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Lloyd Maleswena, 29, was arrested in November 2011 after allegedly telling a pastor of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) in Moria, Limpopo, that he had killed fellow police officer Claudia Rapudi, 24, after a lovers ’ tiff.

Maleswena strangled Rapudi at his home in Lotus Gardens after suspecting she was cheating on him. He then loaded her body into the boot of her car and drove to a veld near Mamelodi, where he set the vehicle alight.

Maleswena was found guilty on Wednesday by Judge Mnonoa Teffo in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

During yesterday ’ s sentencing Teffo found Maleswena to be “dishonest ” for showing up at Rapudi ’ s family home two weeks after her burial and telling the family that he was not aware she had died.

Maleswena confessed to throttling her with both hands after an argument broke out while they were in bed. He said he then “blacked out ” for about two hours before regaining consciousness.

A doctor who performed a postmortem on Rapudi said she died of burn wounds. This was because all her organs were charred and it could not be detected that she was in fact strangled.

“I regret my stupid actions and ask the court for mercy,” Maleswena said in his plea statement.

But the judge said the remorse expressed did not appear genuine.

“I find what you have done to be aggravating, especially in the manner it was done,” said Teffo.

Court GC was packed as the families of both Rapudi and Maleswena were in attendance.

Maleswena ’ s family refused to speak to journalists, and also avoided crossing paths with the Rapudi family.

Following the sentencing, her cousin, Clevio Rapudi, told Sowetan outside that “we [family] are happy it is over. There is no sentence that can bring her back. We are just happy to move on ”.

Senior pastor of the ZCC Amos Lerule, who was also at the trial, said the church was happy to assist in making sure that criminals did not use the church to try and hide their criminal acts.