Two men were handed life sentences at the Bloemfontein Sexual Offences Court on Tuesday, for the rape of a 14-year-old girl, in December 2017. The teenage girl committed suicide the matter was still in court.
Magistrate Jan Greyvensteyn sentenced Tlogelo Mooki, 23, and Lerato Mahumapelo, 25, both from Rocklands, in Bloemfontein, to life behind bars for the rape incident that took place on 16 December 2017.
The third suspect, Gomolemo Kganare, failed to appear in court and a warrant of arrest has been issued out for his arrest. The magistrate further ordered that the names of the accused be included in the National Register for Sexual Offenders.
“On the day of the incident, the complainant, who was alone at the time, went outside at 10pm to close the gate and she was forcefully taken by the three men to a house where they took turns raping her,” Phaladi Suping, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson said.
He said the two men were arrested few days after the incident but were released on bail. The victim committed suicide few months after the trial began in 2020, after she had given her testimony and was also cross-examined by the defence lawyer.
The state prosecutor Ronell Botha proceeded with the matter even after the victim was deceased. When the state closed its case, the defence brought an application for a discharge, but the application was dismissed.
In aggravation for sentencing, Botha requested the court not to five the suspects anything less than the minimum prescribed sentence because of the seriousness of the sentence. “Rape has become a serious problem in Bloemfontein as shown by statistics and imposition of a light sentence will send a wrong message.
“The complainant stated in the victim impact statement that she was being victimised at school, as it was known that she had been raped. This could be the reason she took her own life. What is sad is that a family has lost a child because she was struggling to accept what happened to her,” Botha said.