Bhekani Mlaba has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the kidnapping, assault and continuous rape of a woman in Melmoth, KwaZulu-Natal in 2019.
The 32-year-old perpetrator appeared at the Eshowe regional court on Wednesday where he received life imprisonment for rape plus five years for kidnapping and three years for grievous assault.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said Mlaba befriended his victim on Facebook after he pretended to be a woman.
Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, NPA regional spokesperson, said the convict had been speaking to the complainant online for a while and had confided in him about her financial problems.
“The crime took place between May and July 2019 when Mlaba told her that he would give her R10 000 to start her own business, but she must travel to Melmoth to fetch the money. All their communication was on Facebook and they had never called each other, as Mlaba told her that his cellphone speaker was faulty,” said Ramkisson-Kara.
“After the complainant had travelled to Melmoth and waited for Mlaba at a bus stop, he told her that he would send his nephew to meet her and bring her to the house.
“Mlaba arrived and suggested they take a short cut through the forest. While in the forest, he produced a knife, instructed her to undress and raped her. He then told her to decide whether to be his girlfriend or be killed.
“She chose to save her life and promised not to report [the rape] to the police. He then took her to his relative’s homestead where he introduced her as his fiancé.”
The victim was made to stay in an isolated room and was not allowed to go outside or communicate with anyone.
The rape and assault continued for three months until the victim alerted a family member when they fetched water from the river nearby. Police were called and Mlaba was arrested.
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