A 40-year-old Free State pastor, who kidnapped and raped a woman shortly after her mother’s funeral, has been handed a life sentence.
A FREE State pastor, who kidnapped and raped a 50-year-old woman shortly after her mother’s funeral, has been handed a life sentence.
Office Samson Choniswa, 40, was convicted and sentenced in the Viljoenskroon Magistrate’s Court this week.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the victim had been hiking to Johannesburg after her mother’s funeral on August 31, 2020.
“Choniswa told her that he could organise transport for her to Johannesburg but they first must go to his house, and the complainant agreed,” said NPA Free State spokesperson Phaladi Shuping.
Shuping added that once at Choniswa’s home, he told the victim that he wanted her to be his wife. She refused.
“He refused to let her go and kept her in the house for eight months against her will.
“He raped her several times and even assaulted her. He took her cellular phone and R1,800 cash.”
The NPA said the victim managed to escape on March 11, 2021 and hid in a neighbour’s house.
The following day, she hitch-hiked to Potchefstroom police station where she reported the case to the police.
The NPA said Choniswa denied raping the complainant and claimed that the act was consensual.
“He said it was the complainant who came to him, asking to be his wife, but the State prosecutor, Siphokazi Tunzi, told the court that the injuries sustained by the complainant are an indication that she was held against her will.”
In addition to the life sentence, Choniswa received an additional five years for kidnapping, four years for theft and another five years for assault with an intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Choniswa will effectively serve life imprisonment after the court ordered the sentences to run concurrently. He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
