The Waterval Regional Court sentenced the 27-year-old Bongani Mabasa to life imprisonment for rape last Friday.
The court heard that during the night of 8 April last year, Mabasa went to the victim's home in Waterval. She was alone when he arrived. It was testified that Mabasa forcefully pulled the victim to a nearby fowl shed, where he raped her repeatedly. He then ordered her not to tell the story to anybody, threatening to chop her head off, before letting her go later in the night.
Despite the death threats, the victim decided to report the case to the police. Mabasa was arrested a few days after the incident. He appeared several times in the Waterval Regional Court. The case was also postponed several times in the regional court before it was finalised last Friday.
Reacting to the sentence, the chairperson of Munna Ndi Nnyi Men's Forum, Mr Bardwell Mufunwaini, had mixed feelings. "The sentence is good as it matches the offence." He is, however, worried that those sentenced to life only spend a short time in jail and some are lucky to come back and continue where they left off.
"We are having serious problems in villages where rapes are committed by parents and those parents never see their days in court as family members are afraid of losing support if the suspects are sent to jail. Please, let us all be united and fight this scourge of rape with all our might," he said.
The spokesperson for the police, Col Moatshe Ngoepe, praised the justice system, saying the sentence would serve as a deterrent. "We will not rest in our endeavours to track down and arrest rapists of innocent women. We express the hope that the heavy sentence passed by the court will make suspects think twice before they commit such heinous crimes," reads an extract of the statement from the commissioner's office.