A 60-year-old man was given a life sentence by the Mothibistad regional court in Northern Cape for the rape of his eight-year-old niece.
The victim had visited her grandmother for the Christmas holidays. She went back to her Maruping Village home on January 10, 2022, according to testimony given to the court.
According to the police statement, bloodstains on the victim’s underwear were observed by the mother.
Rape occurred as she visited her grandmother
When her mother asked what happened, the child revealed what happened. She said that she was sexually assaulted by her uncle while she was visiting her grandmother.
After the authorities were notified of the offence, the accused was taken into custody on January 15, 2022.
The incident happened on Christmas Day in 2021. After being convicted and found guilty of the rape, the defendant was given a life term in jail .
He was declared unfit to possess a firearm, and his name is to be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders.
Detective Constable Lorato Michelle Badukane of the Kuruman Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offenses Unit was commended by Lieutenant General Koliswa Otola, the Provincial Commissioner for the Northern Cape, for her thorough investigation and successful pursuit of a heavy sentence.
Eastern Cape man gets life for rape, murder
Meanwhile, this week in Mount Fletcher, 23-year-old Pholoso Letsika was sentenced to life imprisonment. According to Eastern Cape police spokesperson Ursula Roelofse, Letsika was jailed for rape and murder.
“It is alleged that on 23 June 2023, the deceased Nkutlweleng Makhetha, 17, was found with stab wounds in an open field. A case of murder was opened for investigation at Mount Fletcher SAPS,” Roelofse said.
Through investigation, the suspect Pholoso Letsika, 23, was arrested, and the deceased’s cellphone was recovered. He was charged for the murder and rape at Mount Fletcher magistrate’s court.
“The investigating officer, Sergeant Thandikhaya Rigala, successfully opposed the bail. And within 12 months, the accused was found guilty.”
Letsika was on June 24 sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and 10 years for rape. The sentences will both run concurrently.
Both convicts to be registered as sex offenders
The court also ordered that the accused’s name be included in the National Register of sex offenders. He will also be declared unfit to work with children.
The Joe Gqabi District Commissioner Major General Lindelwa Vellem commended the case and its outcome. He lauded the meticulous and professional investigation by the investigating officer D/Sgt Thandikaya Rigala. Vellem also commended the collaboration between the SAPS and NPA, which led to the lengthy prison term.
