Durban — A young man was sentenced to four life terms and 15 years’ imprisonment for raping, assaulting and kidnapping his ex-girlfriend in 2022.
Recently, the Umlazi Regional Court sentenced a 26-year-old man to four terms of life and 15 years’ imprisonment for the rapes, assault GBH (grievous bodily harm) and kidnapping of his ex-girlfriend in May 2022.
“The accused was sentenced to life imprisonment for each of the four counts of rape, 10 years’ imprisonment for assault GBH and five years’ imprisonment for kidnapping. The court ordered that the sentences run concurrently; further, the accused was deemed unfit to possess a firearm,” said KwaZulu-Natal National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara.
Ramkisson-Kara said that before the incident, the pair were in a relationship and shared a child. However, the complainant, aged 29, went back to live with her parents.
On the day of the incident, the complainant went to the accused’s home to fetch diapers for their child when he attacked her. He hit her on her head and dragged her to his room where he tied her to a pole and assaulted her. He raped her several times, once with the neck of a beer bottle. Her cries for help were heard by the neighbours who tried to intervene but eventually called the police, and the accused was arrested.
The complainant was taken to the Umlazi Thuthuzela Care Centre, for medical and psycho-social assistance.
In court, Advocate Pratisha Jugnundan led the testimony of the complainant and a medical doctor, and the contents of the J88 form.
One of the people who tried to intervene between the accused and the complainant also testified about how he had threatened them with a knife and that they had then called the police.
Jugnundan also handed in a Victim Impact Statement compiled by the complainant and facilitated by court preparation officer, Thuliswa Sontsele.
In her statement, the complainant said that following the incident she was emotionally and psychologically traumatised. She lives in fear and is always nervous. She said she would never forgive the accused for what he had done to her.
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