Jail time exchanged for ‘cleansing ritual’ in Alex rape case

The Alexandra Magistrates’ Court dismissed a case of rape against a man after it was withdrawn by the victim, Alex News reports.

State prosecutor Lufuno Maphiri said this was after the victim and her boyfriend, who are known to the accused, asked that he pay for a cleansing ritual instead of doing time in jail.

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The boyfriend told the court that the accused “is a homeboy”. He said he had secured a job for the accused as a driver with his employers at a construction site in Kyalami, where the rape occurred in a shack in mid-April.

He entered the shack without knocking and inquired about the whereabouts of the boyfriend from the victim. When told that he was at work, the accused took out a twist of dagga and smoked it before passing it on to the victim. She allegedly declined, but relented when he threatened to stab her with a knife.

When she got high, he allegedly fondled her, rendering the victim helpless out of fear. He then raped her without a condom and left afterwards. The victim took a bath and told the boyfriend about the incident days later. The couple reported the accused to the police, and he was arrested.

He appeared in court several times while in custody before magistrate Renier Boshoff dismissed the case following their submission of the cleansing option.

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