By BAKANG MOKOTO
24 January 2025- A man (24) was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment by the Hopetown Regional Court for rape and assault. This comes after the accused, Martin April, assaulted and rape woman at Valeria Farm, near Hopetown between 23 and 24 December 2022.
The Northern Cape police spokesperson, Sergeant Timothy Sam said the investigation revealed that, on 23 December 2022, the accused assaulted the man at a friend’s house and further raped his mother the following day on 24 December 2022, who was on her way to a hiking spot.
Sam said the court found the accused guilty and sentenced him to 3 years imprisonment for assault and 15 years imprisonment for rape.
“The assault and rape sentences will run concurrently. April was also declared unfit to possess a firearm,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Pixley Ka Seme District Commissioner, Major General Nomana Mtukushe, commended both the investigation and prosecution team, citing that Gender Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) is an ill that has left no gender and sector of society untouched.
Mtukushe said the police will continue to drive social crime prevention programmes with GBVF groups to address these crimes and change behaviour and social norms.
The Guardian 