Mozambican national convicted for raping teens

The Pretoria High Court sitting in Benoni has convicted a 35-year-old Mozambican national for the kidnapping, assault and rape of two teenage girls in Ekurhuleni in 2013.

Anselma George Mahumane appeared in court on Wednesday, where the guilty verdict was handed down.

Crimes

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said Mahumane committed the offences at Tsakane.

“On 04 December 2013, in the early evening, the 13-year-old girl was walking home to Tsakane extension 1, when she was approached by Mahumane at an open space near the fire station.  He overpowered, strangled, and raped her, while unconscious, and thereafter, he left her lying on the ground.

“Three years later, on 03 December 2016, while the 16-year-old was walking home from the shops, Muhumane and two other men who were never traced, threatened the teenager with a knife and proceeded to rape her by taking turns. After they dragged her to a veld and left her there. She reported the matter to the police,”Mahanjana said.

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Court proceedings

Mahanjana said Mahumane was arrested and later released in April 2017, after the Magistrate refused a remand for DNA evidence, and the matter was struck off the court roll.

“However, Muhumane was rearrested in 2020, after he committed the same offence of rape and was sentenced to 10 years of direct imprisonment in July 2021.

“In this matter, he pleaded not guilty and told the court that he was in a relationship with the 16-year-old complainant. However, the state Advocate Salome Scheepers led evidence that proved that Muhumane raped the two teenagers and therefore was able to prove the state case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Mahanjana said.

The matter was postponed to 30-31 August 2023, for a pre-sentencing report.

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Taylors Halt mass killing

Meanwhile, KwaZulu-Natal police have made a breakthrough and arrested four men in connection with the brutal mass murder of 13 people at a home in Pietermaritzburg.

The victims were burnt alive when a group of gunmen barged into home in Taylor’s Halt ordered them to undress, poured a substance over them, and set them alight.

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