Long jail terms for KZN child rapists

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Published Jul 29, 2015

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Pietermaritzburg - A 27-year-old man has been sentenced to an effective 20 years imprisonment by the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court for the rape of a six-year-old girl.

KwaZulu-Natal police said on Wednesday that the court had convicted and sentenced Sphamandla Shange of Taylors Halt area to an effective 20 years imprisonment for the rape.

Police spokesperson Major Thulani Zwane said the mother of the victim noticed unusual behaviour from her child and when she questioned her the child told her about her ordeal.

“She told her mother that she was playing with other girls in her friends’ place when Sphamandla called her to the toilet and raped her,”Zwane said. “She was taken to hospital for medical check-up and it was confirmed that she had been raped. A case of rape was opened at Taylors Halt Police Station and the docket was handed over to the Plessislaer Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for intensive investigation.”

In a separate matter, on 27 July, the same court convicted and sentenced Mbhasobhi Mbeje, 24, of Thornville area to life imprisonment and two years for raping and assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

According to police, on 3 October 2011 at around 9:30pm, the victim was on her way home when she was approached by Mbeje. He forced her to his house, threatening her with a knife. On arrival at his house the victim tried to resist and the accused stabbed her in the breast and then raped her.

KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni applauded Plessislaer Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for the excellent work, saying: “Shange and Mbeje deserve these sentences and we believe that justice was served to the victims.”

ANA

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