Court hands down six life terms for man who raped six children
IN DECEMBER, there were 10 life imprisonment and 51 accumulative year sentences handed down for sexual-related offences. File Picture. IN DECEMBER, there were 10 life imprisonment and 51 accumulative year sentences handed down for sexual-related offences. File Picture.
Durban - IN DECEMBER, there were 10 life imprisonment and 51 accumulative year sentences handed down for sexual-related offences, according to The Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit in the province, which released the figures for December 1-31.
Provincial police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said 356 suspects were arrested and 14 convicted and sentenced. Their victims were aged between 1 and 90.
“Suspects aged between 26 and 52 were convicted and sentenced in December. One accused, a 34-year-old male, was sentenced to six life terms for raping six children aged between 8 and 13 at KwaMgayi Reserve in the Sawoti policing area. The man committed these crimes in 2017. He would go to his relatives’ homes, rape minors at gunpoint and threaten to kill them,” said Gwala.
She said the man had targeted his relatives and the cases were opened after a neighbour overheard the victims arguing about reporting their ordeal to the elders. He was arrested and the docket sent to Port Shepstone Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for investigation.
“During the arrest, the accused was found with a firearm. He was sentenced by the Scottburgh Magistrate’s Court to six terms of life imprisonment for rape and five years’ imprisonment for firearm possession,” she said.
Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General Khombinkosi Jula applauded the investigators for
ensuring gender-based violence (GBV) cases were solved and perpetrators were prosecuted.
The executive director of the KZN Network on Violence Against Women, Cookie Edwards, felt this must be part of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s emergency rapid response plan on gender-based violence he announced in Parliament on September 18 during a special sitting to deal with the scourge.
“It is nice to see and hear about these figures and it shows that the police are doing their job. Such convictions are exactly what we need to make others come out and speak out. I am pleased to see that the judicial system is taking a stand,” said Edwards.
However, the police could not provide statistics for the December 2018 period for comparison.