The Bloemfontein Magistrates Court has sentenced a 37-year-old man from Rocklands to an effective 15 years’ imprisonment after he was convicted of rape and attempted murder.
Magistrate Carman Parks sentenced Thapelo Jeremiah Sekhau for the rape and attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend about four years ago.
National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said Sekhau was convicted of raping the complainant on September 28, 2018 and attempting to kill her a few months earlier on April 1, 2018.
The court heard that in April 2018, the complainant was on her way home after knocking off from work and met Sekhau who demanded that she goes with him to his place.
The complainant refused and Sekhau stabbed her with a broken bottle.
“She opened a case but later decided not to proceed with it,” Shuping said in a statement.
But the daring suspect was not done as he seemingly kept the complainant under his radar for about six months waiting for the right time to pounce.
“On Friday, 28 September 2018, the complainant was on her way to work when she came across Sekhau who forced her to go with him to his place and raped her,” said Shuping.
“He locked her in the house, raped her several times and only allowed her to leave on Monday.
“She reported the matter to the police and Sekhau was arrested.”
State prosecutor Emmanuel Ali requested the police to bring the docket of the attempted murder of the complainant and charged Sekhau with attempted murder as well.
Sekhau admitted the incident of April 2018 but told the court that his intention, when he stabbed the complainant with a broken bottle, was to injure and not to kill, and was therefore willing to plead on a charge of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
He however denied raping the complainant and said the intercourse was consensual.
Ali requested the court to impose a harsh punishment on Sekhau because even after the complainant was reluctant to proceed with the case after he stabbed her, he committed an even more serious crime of raping her.
“The accused thought he had a right to violate the complainant, because he was supposed to appreciate a second chance given to him by the complainant for being reluctant to proceed with the case of attempted murder, but instead, he forced her into his house, where he kept her for three days, raping her,” said Ali as he argued in aggravation of the matter.
“These are the actions of a person who has no respect for the law,” the prosecutor added.
“Rape and attempted murder are interrelated and are prevalent offences in our country.
“These are offences that put women at the mercy of men and the courts must show their seriousness of dealing with the perpetrators by imposing harsh punishment on the accused.”
Magistrate Parks concurred with the prosecutor and sentenced Sekahu to 15 years for rape and five years for attempted murder.
She ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
The magistrate further ordered the name of Sekhau to be included in the National Register for Sex Offenders. – Staff Reporter