Durban - Incidents of rape were “spreading like wildfire”, a Durban magistrate said on Thursday when he sentenced a married father of two to 20 years imprisonment for raping a 71-year-old pensioner for whom he worked.
Riaz Pradeep Singh, 47, was also given five years imprisonment for theft of the woman’s household goods and groceries.
Durban Regional Court magistrate, Stanley Hlophe, ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
Singh, who lives at the Shallcross informal settlement, was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The court heard how Singh, who worked as a gardener for the pensioner, arrived at her home on January 15 and asked to use the toilet. After being allowed in he ordered her to remove her clothes in the bedroom.
Singh proceeded to throttle and rape her. He then helped himself to household items – electrical equipment, groceries and costume jewellery.
His victim, according to a medical report, had marks on her neck, bloodied lips, as well as swollen and bruised eyes after
the attack.
Singh, who has two children, aged 5 and 11, pleaded guilty to the charges last month.
During aggravation of sentence, prosecutor Shayna Naidoo described the offence as the murder of the woman’s dignity, privacy and self-respect.
Singh, being a family man, should protect females, she said, adding that since the rape the woman had been terrified at night, suffered flashbacks and was severely psychologically affected.
In passing sentence, Hlophe said rape had become an epidemic in our society and “was spreading like wildfire”.
The courts needed to set an example to deter others from committing such crimes, he said.
“Rape is an atrocious and seriously heinous crime. Society needs to be rest assured that the courts view these matters seriously,” Hlophe said.
“The accused could not even give an explanation as to why he committed the crime. He was not drunk or under any intoxicating drugs to claim his thinking capacity was reduced.”
Hlophe said: “Enough is enough. This type of cruel and brutal behaviour has no place in our society. We need to protect our daughters, mothers and grandmothers. He abused the trust of an elderly woman old enough to be his mother.”
The magistrate warned Singh that he came perilously close to being handed life imprisonment, but the court had taken into account his personal circumstances, and had also drawn a comparison to “more serious” rape cases.
He also ignored Singh’s previous convictions.
“His previous theft conviction was more than 10 years ago and the other convictions were not rape related. He will therefore be considered as a first time offender,” he said. “He is spared life imprisonment.”
Daily News