Pietermaritzburg - A Durban electrician who woke a sleeping woman and helped strangle and rob her was jailed for an effective 20 years by Judge Jerome Mnguni in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday.
First offender Teegan Ganesan, 31, was convicted of the murder on January 11, 2011, of Rooksana Sheik, who lived alone in Phoenix.
He and another man broke into her home, and robbed her of sound equipment, for which Ganesan was given the prescribed 15 years.
His erstwhile partner in crime, Harry Govender, who had pleaded guilty and was also given 20 years for the murder and 15 years for the robbery, testified for the State against Ganesan.
The two sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
Mnguni said he would impose deterrent sentences because murderous robberies had escalated alarmingly.
People looked to the courts to impose sentences that reflected their disapproval of crime and a lenient system would affect the criminal justice system, said Mnguni.
Sapa