Hefty sentences for two rapists

A 26-YEAR-OLD man has been convicted and sentenced in the Inkanyezi Regional Court to 20 years’ imprisonment for raping a relative, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Saturday.

In February 2013, a 31-year-old woman was on her way to visit a friend when her relative followed her in the KwaNyembe area, Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said.

“While she was walking through a forest, her relative approached her. He grabbed her and told her what he wanted to do to her and she refused. The accused assaulted the victim until she was unconscious. A friend whom she was visiting repeatedly phoned her but she (the victim) could not answer. He then phoned her sister saying the victim did not pitch up. A search was conducted. She was found the following day, injured and unconscious, then she was taken to hospital for medical attention,” Mbhele said.

A case of rape was opened at Mbongolwane police station and was assigned to the Eshowe family violence, child protection, and sexual offences unit for investigation. The accused fled from the area after the incident. Investigators arrested him at his hiding place in Umgababa in 2017. He was kept in custody until his prosecution. He was sentenced on Friday to 20 years in jail.

In another court case, in the Eshowe Regional Court earlier in the week, a 34-year-old church member was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment for rape and a 61-year-old church leader was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

“A church leader who was also a guardian to a 14-year-old girl took her to stay with a 34-year-old church member in 2016, so that she could help him do house chores. She was repeatedly raped; she informed her guardian who did not do anything. Then, she was brave enough to report the incident this year,” Mbhele said.

The two men were arrested. The church member was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment for rape and the victim’s guardian was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for failing to report the incident, Mbhele said.