A 36-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of a 30-year-old woman after she had tried to protect her friend from him.
Mxolisi Qasha was sentenced by the Durban regional court on Thursday following the rape incident that took place in 2019 in the Sydenham area outside of Durban.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the man was attacking a woman who referred to him as a “Mpondo”, and the victim was friends with the woman.
“When Qasha approached them. He started assaulting her friend, accusing her of calling him a ‘Mpondo’,” said NPA spokesperson Natasha Kara.
“When the victim realised that Qasha spoke in isiXhosa like her, she intervened, hoping to appease the situation, and asked her friend to run away. Qasha then pulled out a knife and ordered the victim to go with him back to his house.
“She immediately reported the matter to her sister and they went to the police station. Qasha was arrested shortly after, as the complainant was able to identify him.”
Qasha had raped the victim three times before letting her go.
In her victim impact statement, she said she had to quit her job and go back to her home province as she was still afraid of Qasha.
She said she is fearful of being alone and has constant flashbacks of the incident.
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