By BAKANG MOKOTO
Two accused sentenced to life imprisonment for rape by the North Gauteng High Court on Friday. The North West police spokesperson, Lieutenant Col Amanda Funani said, this follows after the accused gang raped the girl (14) back in 2019.
“The incident took place in the early hours of Wednesday morning on 25 December 2019 at Letlhabile near Brits. It was reported during the court proceedings that the victim and her male friend were walking home at about 4am after attending a music festival when confronted by four suspicious males.
“One of the males grabbed the victim and took her to the nearby bushes, where he and one of his companions took turns in raping her. They then compelled the victim’s male friend to rape her,” Funani said.
She further said, upon realising that the friend was only pretending to be raping his friend, they assaulted him. Funani added that the friend of the victim pretended to be unconscious.
“The two accused then continued to rape the victim. The third male (26) left the scene with the victim’s cell-phone. He further robbed other festival attendees of their valuables including their cell-phones.
“One of the victims saw the police who were on patrol and informed them about the robbery. The victim identified the accused and as a result, he was arrested. The initial gang rape suspects were apprehended later the same day. They were found to be in possession of items reported stolen by the victims,” she said.
Funani said subsequently, the three accused were found to be in possession of the minor’s cell-phone and clothes. Moreover, the two accused aged 27 and 32 were linked to the rape through the DNA results.
“One of the four accused was eventually released as he could not be linked to the crimes. The accused (26) was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for common robbery, while two accused aged 27 and 32 were sentenced to two years imprisonment each for kidnapping.
“They were also found guilty of armed robbery and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment each, 10 years each for attempted compelled rape, five years imprisonment each for assault and life sentence imprisonment each for rape,” said Funani.
Meanwhile, the North West Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena lauded the Brits Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit for securing yet another two life sentences in one week. Kwena said it shows that the unit is committed to the fight against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) by ensuring that maximum jail terms are imposed on the two accused.
The Guardian 