POLOKWANE – Provincial police have welcomed the conviction and incarceration of a 30-year-old rapist.
The accused, Chrishani Masete (30) who was accused of the rape of two minors, aged 15 and 16, and a 23-year-old woman, was found guilty and sentenced in the Limpopo High Court, division Polokwane yesterday (31 January).
“Masete was sentenced to life for the rape of a 15-year-old girl and 10 years imprisonment each on the other two cases,” Police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said.
The court further declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
The sentence emanated from three separate incidents committed in the Mecklenburg policing area outside Burgersfort during 2017 and 2018.
Mojapelo explained that the first incident happened on September 2 in 2017. “The 23-year-old woman was accosted by the accused at around 20:00 while she was waiting for a taxi. She was assaulted then forced to a nearby village where she was raped,” he said.
In another incident on December 30 the accused forced himself on a 16-year-old girl. She was attacked while walking home with friends. Masete forced her into nearby bushes and raped her, Mojapelo added.
The last incident happened on December 2 the following year when he dragged a 15-year-old girl to his home and raped her.
Cases were opened in all three incidents and were investigated by Detective Sergeant Mamodishi Rachel Letlapa, who is attached to the Burgersfort Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offenses (FCS) Unit.
“Consequent to a thorough and diligent investigation, Masete was arrested and positively linked to all three incidents.”
Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe hailed the investigating officer for the exceptional work and has reiterated that SAPS will ensure that perpetrators of gender-based violence and femicide are brought to book and justice is served for the victims, Mojapelo concluded.
