EMPANGENI’S ‘Satanic’ serial rape accused Sandile Welcome Xulu will appear before a Pietermaritzburg High Court judge on 13 December as his trial gets underway.
Xulu (23) is accused of being behind the rapes of at least five women, who were all told he would curse them and make ‘snakes grow in their belly’ if they spoke to police.
The crimes occurred in Empangeni between March and May last year.
The Empangeni Magistrate’s Court previously heard how Xulu and his co-accused, girlfriend Zinhle Mkungo and Innocent Mthembu, lured women into their traps by advertising jobs on the social media chat site, 2Go.
He was denied bail in June last year owing to the seriousness of the charges, which include rape, kidnapping and armed robbery, while Mthembu and Mkhungo were released on bail.
They are charged with possession of suspected stolen property and conspiracy to commit a sexual offence.
• Meanwhile, the ‘Stocking Rapist’, a man who detectives believe could be linked to 16 cases of rape in the KwaNdaye Reserve near eSikhaweni over the past few years, made his first appearance in the eSikhaweni Magistrate’s Court.
He will appear again on 1 December.
His modus operandi involved kicking down doors in the early hours of the morning and dragging his victims out into nearby bushes before raping them.
He always wore a stocking over his head, obscuring his identity.
Detectives believe the case will also be moved to the High Court early in the new year.
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