PRETORIA, July 22 (ANA) – The Mhala regional court in Mpumalanga has sentenced 29-year-old Regiment Maluleke, from Agincourt outside Thulamahashe, to life imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to raping an 82-year-old woman.
Monica Nyuswa, spokesperson for the Mpumalanga director of public prosecutions, said the rape took place in January 2017.
“In his plea, Maluleke told the court that on the day of the incident, he went to the complainant’s house in Newton Trust pretending to be looking for his girlfriend. He found the complainant alone and forcefully raped her,” said Nyuswa.
“In aggravation of sentence, prosecutor Matume Maake told the court that Maluleke pleaded guilty not because he is remorseful, but because of the DNA evidence that is linking him to the offence. He added that Maluleke committed a serious offence, an offence that is prevalent in the country and the scourge of gender-based violence.”
The prosecution, led by Maake, requested “a harsh sentence” in a bid to protect elderly women in South Africa, who are often targeted by criminals.
Nyuswa said the victim impact statement presented in court showed that the victim suffered emotional stress and physical injuries.
“Magistrate Elmarie Theron found no substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment,” said Nyuswa.
The director of public prosecutions in Mpumalanga, Advocate Matric Luphondo, welcomed the conviction and sentence in light of the current spate of gender-based violence cases across South Africa.
Another Mpumalanga man, 35-year-old Kholofelo Nonyane, charged with attempted murder after setting his girlfriend alight, has been denied bail by the Witbank magistrate’s court.
The case of Nonyane, who allegedly set his girlfriend on fire in December, has been postponed to September 4 for further investigation.
– African News Agency
