Two rapists were sentenced to life and 20 years imprisonment respectively in Heidelberg Regional Court on April 21.
Mr Pieter du Plessis (magistrate) found Sipho Nkosi (32) guilty of raping a 10 year old girl. The incident occurred in June 2015 in Ratanda when the accused lured the girl away from the play park and raped her in his home. Her mother found them.
Nkosi had two previous convictions of assault to cause grievously bodily harm as well as robbery and assault in 2005. On sentencing the accused to life imprisonment, Mr Du Plessis took his previous convictions into consideration as well as the fact that Nkosi showed no remorse in spite of overwhelming direct evidence against him.
In the second case, Andries Khabelo Khanye (25) was convicted of aggravated robbery and rape. He robbed a pedestrian of her cellphone near the taxi ranks in Ratanda in 2014 threatening her with a knife against her throat. He then forced her to a nearby tent where he raped her.
Mr Du Plessis commended the investigating officer in the case, Detective Sergeant Ben Thaile who traced the cellphone to the accused’s home. Khanye was later positively matched to the rape via DNA tests.
Mr Du Plessis concluded that the seriousness of the offences must be considered and it is necessary for courts to take note of the prevalence of these matters.
Mr Richard Mathabela was the state prosecutor.
Read the full article in tomorrow’s HERAUT (May 4).
