Durban - A hospital security guard who raped a mentally ill patient, then tried to sweet talk her into silence, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for rape on Thursday.
Sibongiseni Ngcobo, 39, a father of two from Ntuzuma, was on Thursday found guilty of raping a 19-year-old girl at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital on the night of March 20, 2013.
The Verulam Magistrate’s Court heard during judgment how the on-duty security guard followed the mentally ill teenager, who cannot be named, through the hospital corridor, pulled her into a remote dark room and raped her.
He then told her he loved her and he would buy her something “nice” if she didn’t tell anyone.
But she immediately brought the incident to the attention of the nurses, who began investigating.
They found that her pants and underwear were wet and upon arrival at the scene, something was wiped off the floor. The police were called in and Ngcobo was arrested after being positively identified by the girl.
Ngcobo, who had pleaded not guilty earlier in the trial, told prosecutor Kaystree Ramsamujh that he did not rape the girl but had caught her urinating in the corner of one of the hospital corridors.
He claimed the girl was attempting to abscond from the facility.
He said he was on his way back from the tuck shop when he saw her in her pyjamas with her underwear pulled down. He asked her what she was doing and she told him to leave her alone.
Ngcobo claimed she made sexual advances to him, held him by the waist and opened his zip.
He refused her sexual advances and did not recall wiping semen off the floor.
In delivering her judgment, Magistrate Jenny Pillay found that although the patient was mentally challenged, it did not mean her evidence was not true.
She was trustworthy and her evidence was supported by others who testified. She could not have been trying to escape because she had on numerous times previously volunteered to be admitted to the hospital for treatment, she said.
“The complainant was nowhere near an exit and was in her pyjamas. His testimony is fabricated,” Pillay said.
Ramsamujh told the court during aggravation of sentencing that Ngcobo was employed by the security company to guard patients rather than inflicting harm on them.
She read out the victim impact report which said the girl had been traumatised and was not coping at the special needs school she attended.
Her mother claims her daughter’s mental situation had been worsened.
The magistrate spared Ngcobo life imprisonment but said serious crimes should not be met with light sentences.
Ngcobo was granted leave to appeal the conviction after claiming a different court might rule in his favour. His bail of R1 500 was extended.
Daily News