GIYANI REGIONAL COURT HANDS DOWN A LENGTHY SENTENCE AGAINST AN ATTEMPTED RAPE ACCUSED

On Wednesday, 13 March 2024, the Giyani Regional Court handed down a direct five years sentence to a 23-year-old male accused for attempting to rape a female victim aged 16.

On 31 December 2022, the accused requested the victim to accompany him to his grandmother’s house to fetch his jersey. On their arrival he subsequently threatened the victim with a knife, touched her private parts and breast at Nhlaniki village in Giyani policing area. Thereafter, he locked her inside the house and went out to relieve himself.

The victim managed to jump out of the house through a window and screamed for help. The matter was reported to the Police. An attempted rape docket was opened to trace and arrest the suspect.

The docket was then transferred to Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit in Giyani, and was assigned to Sergeant Amukelani Mathebula. The accused was arrested after two days.

Following meticulous investigations, the accused Nzalama Mkharhi (23) was convicted and sentenced to five (05) years imprisonment for attempted rape.

The Provincial Commissioner of the Police in Limpopo Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has lauded the investigating officer for ensuring that the accused was sentenced to jail and the victim.