Dundee - A 31-year-old man was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for raping a mentally handicapped man, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Monday.
Sigwili Zama Mncube was sentenced in the Dundee Regional Court on Thursday for the rape of the 32-year-old man, spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said.
“In April 2012, a 32-year-old victim who resides at Osizweni, near Newcastle, attended a funeral at Silutshana area at Nquthu. The funeral proceedings were delayed... which allowed the suspect to take advantage of the situation,” he said.
“He offered the victim a bed for the night at his homestead and the victim agreed. While sleeping, the accused started raping the victim.”
The man was unable to leave the house and could only report the rape to the neighbour the next morning, he said.
Zwane said police were called the next day and a case of rape was opened.
Positive medical reports and DNA results played a vital role in the case and in securing the sentence.
Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Mmamonnye Ngobeni welcomed the sentence.
“People such as Mncube deserve no place in our society,” she said in a statement.
“The sentence handed down will send a clear message to like-minded would-be offenders that the police will trace, arrest and successfully prosecute them.”
Sapa