Amantle Samane's mom says she has no closure despite her daughter's killer's life sentences

JOHANNESBURG - The mother of six-year-old Amantle Samane, who was raped and brutally murdered, said she'd been left with more questions after her killer was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Johannesburg High Court.

Twenty-five-year-old Phethe Simiao was handed two life sentences that will run concurrently for the crimes.

He was also sentenced to two years each for kidnapping and contravening immigration laws.

The six-year-old girl's lifeless body was found in Simiao’s shack in Soweto last year after he raped and strangled her to death.

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Judge William Karam found that even though the Mozambican national pleaded guilty to all the charges against him, shortening what may have been a lengthy trial, he failed to demonstrate true or genuine remorse.

"His failure to testify further leaves many unanswered questions. How did he keep the victim hostage while he went to purchase a beer? How long was she kept hostage before he raped her? How long did the rape endure? How long after the rape did he murder her?"

Amantle Samane’s mother, Ntombizodwa, said she felt like she'd been denied closure.

"He left me with questions. I wanted to know why he did this, what pushed him because no normal person would do this. Even now, I have no closure, even though he has been handed two life sentences."

Samane said she hopes the hefty sentence handed to Simiao would be a deterrent to other perpetrators of violence.