Dros rapist Ninow to rot in jail
NICHOLAS NINOW: ABUSED SEVEN-YEAR-OLD IN TOILET
Judge Mokhine Mosopa yesterday handed down a life sentence to convicted child rapist.
Victim impact report states victim may have psychological issues in later life.
Judge Mokhine Mosopa handed down a life sentence to convicted child rapist Nicholas Ninow yesterday in the High Court in Pretoria. Ninow also got five years for possession of drugs and another five for defeating the ends of justice, the latter to run concurrently with the life sentence.
The court earlier heard arguments in mitigation and aggravation of sentence, with the state asking for the maximum of a life sentence and the 21-year-old Ninow pleading for clemency, saying he would kill himself if he was sent to prison for life.
In his judgment, Mosopa referred to the scourge of gender-based violence in South Africa, and that the court had been asked to impose sentences that could function as a deterrent.
Ninow admitted on Wednesday that he had not cared about the consequences of his actions when he had raped a seven-yearold girl in a toilet cubicle at the Dros restaurant in Silverton, Pretoria last year.
He said recreational drugs had made him “angry and full of hatred” and that he had been acting on impulse alone.
“Sober-minded, I would never have done such a thing, not to anyone, never mind a little child.
“I could not get physical with anyone sober, I am not violent,” he told the court.
He added that his grandmother would attest to his assertion that he was a “different person” when high. His grandmother, Pauline Gericke, did indeed testify in favour of Ninow’s character yesterday, blaming his mother for reintroducing him to drugs after he had been “clean” for some time.
Ninow earlier detailed his history of drug abuse, which began when he was 13 after his mother introduced him to khat (methcathinone).
The court was also asked to consider his young age and his first-offender status as mitigating factors.
Judge Mosopa acknowledged that Ninow appeared to be a broken person. “The person who was supposed to protect him introduced him to drugs,” he said.
However, he said the harm caused to the victim could not be downplayed. “The complainant is scared of being in the company of men. Ninow violated a child he should have protected.”
Testifying in aggravation of sentence yesterday, forensic social worker Captain Karin Botha detailed the trauma of the rape and how it still haunted the victim. Thirteen months later, the now eight-year-old still had nightmares about him and feared he would attack her in her room.
Botha told the court that the victim, who cannot be named to protect her identity, could still vividly remember what Ninow looked like and what he wore on the day he raped her in September last year.
According to Botha, who compiled a victim impact report, the girl was extremely anxious and nervous all the time and this was reflected in her body language.
Since the incident, she had been petrified of restaurants and men, Botha testified.
Botha added that the victim was suffering from deep-rooted trauma that may well continue into adulthood and cause mental issues. – Additional reporting by News24 Wire
Complainant is scared of being in the company of men