Hugo Ferreira pleaded guilty to murdering and raping his eight-day-old daughter in 2023.
He was sentenced to two life terms in prison terms on Thursday.
The court found he was unremorseful, and the murder was premeditated.
Hugo Ferreira, the man who raped and murdered his eight-day-old daughter “to give her something to cry about”, was indifferent to the double life terms handed down by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
Wearing shorts, flip flops and a black hoody, the 37-year-old stood in the dock, his eyes dull and lifeless as he stared at Judge Portia Phahlane who sentenced him on Thursday morning.
Ferreira was sentenced for the 2023 rape and murder of his infant daughter.
He pleaded guilty to the crimes in February this year.
Just as he was apathetic towards the sentence imposed, Ferreira did not flinch as Phahlane recounted the sordid details of how he savagely beat and raped the infant who died in hospital less than a day after the attack.
In his guilty plea explanation, Ferreira, who lived in Carletonville, said the baby’s mother left their home on 8 June 2023 to sell clothes to buy nappies.
“The eight-day-old deceased was left in my care, and I was not happy with that,” he added.
Ferreira told the mother to return in five minutes, and when she did not, he “became angry”.
He said his daughter was crying because she was hungry, and her nappy had to be changed.
“I panicked and was angry and frustrated because the deceased just kept on crying while I started changing her nappy.”
Ferreira added he then grabbed the baby by the back of her neck and started beating her.
“I accept this was a brutal and vicious assault, especially on such a small baby.”
After beating her, he said he then decided to give his daughter something to cry about and raped her.
Ferreira admitted to keeping the injured infant away from her mother following the attack, knowing it contributed to her suffering and eventual death.
Phahlane also went through the post-mortem findings, which detailed the injuries sustained by the baby.
The court said it was clear Ferreira did not disclose the full version of what he did to his daughter.
Phahlane added: “The injuries sustained by this infant, this newborn baby, paints a horrific picture of how she died a cruel and painful death at the hands of the accused who had no regard for human life.”
As the judge detailed the infant’s injuries, there were gasps from the gallery.
While there was no family in the court for the victim, a group of women from the gender-based violence brigade, a team deployed by the Gauteng government, attended the sentencing, as they had attended every other court appearance in support of the victim.
The court found Ferreira showed no remorse and his murder of the infant was premeditated.
“To my mind, this conduct points to premeditation because, at the time when the accused started assaulting the deceased and throwing her tiny body around in the room, he already made up his mind about how he was going to kill the deceased,” Phahlane said, referring to the pre-sentence report where Ferreira expressed anger towards the infant’s mother and his former wife.
“This is indicated by the repeated action of grabbing the deceased by the neck and lifting her up and throwing her onto the ground several times even after she had lost and regained consciousness.”
Phahlane added the accused’s intentions on the day of the attack were clearly aimed at killing the infant.
“He knew exactly what he was doing and how he was going to carry out his thoroughly thought-out plan of making sure that he ends the life of this newborn baby.
“His anger towards the deceased’s mother and the feeling of being rejected by his own mother and ex-wife should not have been a reason for him to commit such an act. To commit what can only be described as a brutal and ruthless and monstrous killing of the innocent, defenceless infant.”
Finding Ferreira was unremorseful, Phahlane referred to the pre-sentence report in which he told a probation officer he wanted to murder his former wife and the mother of the deceased if he was not jailed.
Said the judge: “What is so sad about this monstrous and barbaric behaviour of the accused is that he wants to repeat it again. Clearly, this is not the behaviour of a of a person who is remorseful.
“I am not persuaded by the submissions that the accused is remorseful for his actions.”
Phahlane added this was also an indication Ferreira could not be rehabilitated.
“The fact that the accused pleaded guilty and admitted the wrongfulness of his actions cannot be interpreted as a sign of showing remorse or that he can be rehabilitated when it is clear from the actions placed before the court that he will not change and is not willing to change his aggressive and violent behaviour towards others.”
