The Madadeni Regional Court convicted and sentenced a traditional healer to life in prison on February 5, for raping a 14-year-old boy in March of 2016.
Newcastle SAPS Corporate Communications and Liaison Officer, Captain Jabulani Ncube said the boy fell ill in March, 2016 and was taken to the traditional healer, who was also a reverend, to be cured.
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“The healer allegedly told the family there was something terribly wrong with the boy and they should bring the boy to his house every night, which the family proceeded to do.”
The boy was taken to the reverend’s house over a period of three nights, but soon refused to go there again. The family questioned him as to why he didn’t want to go back, but the boy was allegedly too ashamed to tell them his reasons.
“Eventually after being pressured, he ended up telling them that the reverend was having sex with him at night.”
According to the victim, he had asked the reverend why he had done this to him, and the reverend shouted at him, telling him that this was the way to heal him.
His elders immediately reported the matter to the police, and the Newcastle FCS Unit took over the investigation.
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“The suspect was arrested and he was kept in custody until he was put on trial and convicted of the rape charge.The family and community were pleased with the outcome of the investigation conducted by the investigating officer, Sergeant Kubheka, and the sentence handed down to someone they had trusted so much.”
The KwaZulu-Natal Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Bheki Langa commended detectives for their good investigation which led to the conviction of the accused.
“I would like to praise our detectives for gathering full evidence and brought it to court which led to the successful prosecution of the accused. I welcome the sentence handed down to the accused and we hope it will send a strong message to other rapists that the long arm of law will catch you whenever and wherever you are,” he said.
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