Sentencing proceedings are underway for convicted child rapist and murderer, Moyhdian Pangkaeker. Picture: Chevon Booysen
Cape Town – While convicted child rapist and murderer, Moyhdian Pangkaeker still insists on his innocence, victim impact statements tell of the indelible trauma their perpetrator inflicted on them.
Pangkaeker, who was convicted on 21 of the 27 criminal charges he faced last year, returned to the dock on Monday as sentencing proceedings got under way in the Western Cape High Court.
State prosecutor Lenro Badenhorst read excerpts from the victim impact statements of Pangkaeker's sexual abuse victims – who cannot be named – and which include that of slain 8-year-old Tazne van Wyk's parents.
The victims told of how they “were happier before the incidents” and after being violated by Pangkaeker, they became sad and withdrawn from society, "became angry" and felt depressed.
One of the victims said her "heart is broken and I just want to drop out of school as my life is not what I had hoped".
Tazne's parents, Carmen van Wyk and Terence Manuel, said their hearts had "holes ripped from it" and they still struggle to come to terms with the gruesome murder of their daughter who was kidnapped during 2020.
Her lifeless and desecrated corpse was found in a stormwater drain 10 days after her disappearance.
Pangkaeker had directed police to the site where he had disposed of her body.
Probation officer, Freddy Wakefield, read his pre-sentence report into the record on Monday.
Wakefield, who said he had never seen such a degree of sexual abuse in previous cases he had dealt with, submitted that Pangkaeker posed a high risk of reoffending. As a result of his aggressive behaviour, he posed a risk of physical harm to the public.
Wakefield recommended to the court that Pangkaeker be handed a lengthy custodial sentence as he still refused to take accountability for his actions and had "not learnt from previous convictions".
According to Pangkaeker, his family had alienated him after his incarceration, and he had not received any visitors since his imprisonment.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
Cape Times