The Eshowe Regional Court in KwaZulu-Natal sentenced a 32-year-old man to life behind bars this week, after he was found guilty of rape, kidnapping and aggravated assault.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said that in 2019, Bhekani Mlaba pretended to be a woman on Facebook and struck up a friendship with his victim. The two spoke via text messages and never via phone calls because Mlaba said his cellphone speaker was faulty.
After chatting online for a while, the victim told him that she was experiencing financial problems.
NPA spokesperson in KZN Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said Mlaba told the woman he would give her R10 000 to start her own business but she would have to travel to Melmoth to collect it.
“The complainant travelled to Melmoth and waited for Mlaba at a bus stop. He told her that he would send his nephew to meet her and bring her to the house. Unbeknown to the complainant that this was the person she was chatting to all along, Mlaba arrived and suggested they take a short cut through the forest. While in the forest he produced a knife, instructed her to undress and raped her,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
Mlaba gave the woman an ultimatum – either be his girlfriend or be killed.
“She chose to save her life and promised not to report him to the police. He then took her to his relative’s homestead where he introduced her as his fiancée. They were given an isolated room and she was not allowed to go outside or communicate with anybody there.
“He continued to rape and grievously assault her. After some time, he took her to another homestead. All this happened between May and July 2019,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
While the pair travelled to another homestead, Mlaba told the woman he would stab her if she tried to flee or alert anyone.
At the new homestead, the woman befriended Mlaba's relative and when they walked down to the river to fetch water, she told the relative that she was not Mlaba’s girlfriend and that he was keeping her against her will and raping her.
Ramkisson-Kara said the matter was reported to another male relative, police were called and Mlaba was arrested.
“In court, Regional Court prosecutor Russell Mngoma handed in a Victim Impact Statement compiled by the complainant and facilitated by court preparation officer Amanda Nxumalo. In her statement, the woman said the incident had emotionally devastated her. She said that she doesn’t trust men and lives in constant fear. She also has difficulty sleeping at night,” the NPA said.
Mlaba was sentenced to life imprisonment for rape, five years for kidnapping and three years for aggravated assault.
“The NPA welcomes this successful prosecution and believes that it befits the crime. People should be cautious of meeting unknown people online. This case proves that the repercussions can be devastating,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
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