Jeremiah Ruiters's killer faces two life sentences, his mom acquitted of his murder

Child killer Ameerudien Peters is facing a double life sentence following his conviction of the rape and murder of 18-month-old Jeremiah Ruiters.

Child killer Ameerudien Peters is facing a double life sentence following his conviction of the rape and murder of 18-month-old Jeremiah Ruiters.

Published Dec 12, 2019

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Cape Town - Child killer Ameerudien Peters is

facing a double life sentence following his conviction in the Western Cape High Court of the rape and murder of 18-month-old Jeremiah Ruiters.

Judge Monde Samela also found Peters guilty on a count of child neglect in respect of Jeremiah.

His co-accused, Abigail Ruiters,

Jeremiah’s mother, was found guilty on one charge of child neglect but acquitted on two similar charges relating to her other two minor children, as well as on a count of murder.

Jeremiah was certified dead on arrival at the Factreton Clinic on June 12, 2017, when Peters brought him there. Peters claimed the toddler had suffered a fit, and while running to the clinic, with the child wrapped in a jacket, the child had slipped from the jacket and fallen to the ground, and he had fallen on top of the child.

Judge Samela found all the medical evidence contradicted Peters’s claim.

Medical evidence showed there was blood in Jeremiah’s mouth and nose, there was a deep cut on his lip, he had bruises on his head and bite marks on his body, his lower back was dislocated, his ribs were fractured and his skull was broken.

Judge Samela said: “The deceased was just 18 months old and defenceless. He sustained the injuries, caused by blunt force trauma, while he was in Peters’s care. I reject your version and it is not reasonably true.

“The State has proved beyond

reasonable doubt that you had raped the child. The medical evidence clearly shows there was fresh penetration on the morning of June 12, 2017.

“Ruiters testified that the injuries weren’t there when she left the child with you.”

Child killer Ameerudien Peters is facing a double life sentence following his conviction of the rape and murder of 18-month-old Jeremiah Ruiters

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Regarding Ruiters, the judge said he was of the view that she was negligent with Jeremiah and failed to protect him. “You allowed Peters to continuously harm Jeremiah. You had a legal duty to protect Jeremiah against Peters. You elected to turn a blind eye.”

The State requested that Ruiters’s bail be withdrawn, as her conviction carried a minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.

“There is an outcry in South Africa that children need to be protected. Ruiters’s situation has changed and she must remain in prison until

sentencing proceedings commence,” the judge ruled.

Sentencing proceedings will commence on February 11 next year.

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Cape Argus

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