A sick South African father admitted to murdering his one-week-old baby daughter after he violently raped her while her mother was out.
Maureen Brand, the baby’s mother, had left the girl alone with him to sell clothes and buy nappies.
But upon her return later that day, she found her baby severely injured after being assaulted physically and sexually.
The baby, who was just one week old, was taken to hospital where she died the following day due to head injuries.
Hugo Ferreira said that he wanted to give his daughter ‘something to cry about’, saying in his plea that he was ‘unhappy’ because Brand had left the baby with him and had said she would be back in five minutes.
But when Brand didn’t return, and the baby girl began to cry because she was hungry and needed her nappy changed. The 37-year-old said he became angry and unleashed his horrific attack on the infant.
‘I grabbed the baby hard at the back of her neck and hit her buttocks repeatedly’, he said.
‘In the process, I pushed her head against the surface on which I was working.
‘I accept that it was a cruel and gruesome attack, especially on such a young baby. The action was clearly illegal and I did it with intent.’
He then said that he decided to assault her sexually because he had ‘decided to give her something to cry about.’
He added: ‘When her mother returned, I realised she would see that something was wrong.
‘I kept the baby away from her until later the day. I did this because I realised the baby was seriously injured.’
Ferreira said in his plea exclamation that he knew that his actions were wrong and that the baby could die, adding that he continued despite knowing this.
He also said that he was under the influence of methamphetamine but added that the substance did not influence him to the point where he was not accountable for his actions.
Ferreira is set to be sentenced next week. He has now threatened to kill his wife if he is not jailed.
He made the threat during his trial in the Pretoria High Court.
