KURUMAN. – A 29-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of a 32-year-old woman in Dithakong, near Kuruman. The North West police have welcomed the sentence.
According to Captain Nomthando Mnisi, spokesperson for the SAPS, the incident took place on 28 February 2021 at approximately 23:45. The woman was walking home from a tavern when the man approached her.
She ran to a nearby house to seek help, but the man followed her and threatened the homeowner to send her outside. He threatened to break into the house and fetch her himself.
When the woman went outside, the man grabbed her and demanded sexual intercourse. When she refused, he pulled out a knife and threatened to kill her. Fearing for her life, she complied with his demands.
The man then took her to a friend's house, where he raped her in the presence of his friends.
The woman later asked permission to use the toilet and managed to escape. At her home she told her family about the incident and reported the matter to the police.
General Major Luntu Ngubelanga, acting provincial commissioner of the SAPS in the Northern Cape, commended Constable Tholakele Beauty Majola of the Kuruman unit for family violence, child protection and sexual offences for her work in successfully handling the case.
The SAPS reaffirmed its commitment to combating gender-based violence and sexual offences, and encouraged victims to report such incidents to the police.
Source: SAPS
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
