RUSTENBURG HERALD - PHOKENG - The Tlhabane Magistrates’ Court handed down 15 years imprisonment sentence to a 15-year-old teenager last week for four cases of rape, reported over the last three years.
Evidence presented in court indicated that in the first incident, reported on Monday, 5 September 2022, a 12-year-old girl was walking home after school. She was approached by the perpetrator, who was her classmate. He grabbed her water bottle and ran away. The victim chased after him into a secluded area, where she was overpowered and raped.
In the second incident, reported on Friday, 16 June 2023 (Youth Day), an 11-year-old girl was riding her bicycle in the street when the accused offered to repair the damages on it. After fixing the bicycle, he drove it into nearby bushes, under the pretense of testing it. The girl followed him, and he then attempted to rape the girl, but a male passer-by interrupted the crime and the boy fled from the scene.
A third incident was reported on Tuesday, 3 October 2023, when an 11-year-old boy was driving home on his bicycle. The convict forcefully took the bicycle and drove off. The victim followed him and pleaded with him to give his bicycle back. Consequently, the perpetrator drove into nearby bushes, where he overpowered the boy and raped him.
The fourth and last incident was reported on Thursday, 1 February 2024. A 5-year-old girl was playing in a neighbour’s yard when the convict joined her and called her behind a shack, where he raped her.
The Provincial Police Commis-sioner, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, welcomed the sentence and applauded the Investigating Officers, Sgt Mamotse Moshe of the Provincial Serial and Electronic Crime Investigations Unit and the prosecution for their teamwork, being equal to the task of ensuring that the accused was convicted.
