A convict claiming the two life sentences he received for raping little girls were unfair and the children had wrongly identified him has lost his appeal and been sent back to prison for life.
In an order made by the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg, judge Rob Mossop noted that the two attacks had taken place a year apart, that the young victims did not know each other and if their versions were correct, only the appropriateness of the sentence was to be considered.
The rapist, whose identity has been withheld, was convicted by the Pinetown regional court of raping an 11-year-old girl and a 14-year-old. He was given two concurrent life terms and, because of the heaviness of the sentence and age of the victims, was granted an automatic right to appeal in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act.
The accused was described as an unmarried 46-year-old who had fathered seven children.
The court heard that the 11-year-old victim was raped twice on January 4 2017 and the 14-year-old on January 16 2018. The girls did not know each other, yet their accounts were similar.
During the trial the accused pleaded not guilty and offered no version of his own and no defence “other than to deny the fact that he was their tormentor”, chose not to testify and called no witnesses.
Mossop said both rapes had occurred in daylight, the victims had been in the company of the rapist for a long period and while no identification parade had been held, both girls identified their attacker in the dock. This needed to be “cautiously assessed”, he said, because of the inherent dangers of a layperson feeling comfort that the accused must naturally have been involved in the crime, even when not correct.
However, he was satisfied that this had been confirmed by the medical examinations of the victims’ injuries and the collection of DNA and the chain of evidence detailing how it had been harvested, analysed and stored. None of this had been disputed by the accused, who had simply stated that he had no knowledge of the reported incidents and had not been involved.
The state therefore successfully proved that both girls were raped by the accused who was linked by DNA in the semen.
His list of convictions demonstrates that he shows no respect for women or their right to bodily integrity ... he has demonstrated that he will not obey the laws that bind all right-thinking members of society. He must now suffer the consequences
— Judge Rob Mossop
The first complainant testified that she was near some shops in Pinetown when she was approached by a stranger who asked her to come with him to a shop where he wanted to buy a school uniform for a girl the same size as her. He then took her away and raped her twice.
The second girl told the court that she had gone to Pinetown to buy a school uniform and asked a man for directions to the store that sold them. He accompanied her to the shop and after she bought the uniform, he told her he had another one just like it at his parents' home and offered to give it to her if she went with him to fetch it. After following him away from the shops she was raped.
"I am satisfied that the identity of the person who raped the two young girls was established beyond reasonable doubt. That person was the appellant, and the regional magistrate accordingly correctly convicted him on the two counts of rape. There was simply no explanation for the presence of the appellant’s semen in each complainant. The appeal against conviction must thus fail,” said Mossop.
The judge said after the conviction the accused admitted to previous convictions that “make for shocking reading” and included several more convictions for rape.
"The appellant is clearly a predator who preys on women, including young girls. His list of convictions demonstrates that he shows no respect for women or their right to bodily integrity ... he has demonstrated that he will not obey the laws that bind all right-thinking members of society. He must now suffer the consequences,” the judge said in upholding the life sentences.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.