BOTSHABELO MAN SENTENCED TO LIFE FOR RAPING 8-YEAR-OLD GIRL
BLOEMFONTEIN:
A 32-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment, by Botshabelo Magistrates’ Court after he was convicted of raping an 8-year-old girl. Magistrate Motshidisi Khuduga sentenced
Lehlohonolo Paulus Rampolong for raping the complainant on 20 January 2022.
The complainant was playing with her friend in the neighbour’s yard when she was called by
Rampolong, who promised to give her money. She went to Rampolong who asked her to accompany
him to his house and she agreed. When they arrived at his place, he took her to the bedroom and
raped her. The complainant told her mother what Rampolong did to her when she got home. The police were called and Rampolong was arrested.
In court, Rampolong’s defence was that of a bare denial and told the court that he was with his friend on the day of the incident, but he failed to call his friend to testify on his behalf. The court called the friend, and he told the court that he was with Rampolong the day before the incident, and not on the day of the incident.
In aggravation, the State Prosecutor, Nokutula Ndwandwa, presented a victim impact statement
facilitated by Court Preparation Officer, Melissa Mphulanyane, in which the mother of the complainant
said the incident has changed the behaviour of her child because she no longer plays with her
friends, and she gets into fights with other learners at school.
“The incident will hurt her life for a long time because she never expected the
accused to behave like that because she trusted him. She was expecting him to protect her, not to
violate her. The accused comes to court and denies everything even with the overwhelming evidence
against him. He is not remorseful and he failed to show that substantial and compelling circumstances
exist for the court to deviate from the minimum prescribed sentence and I, therefore, request the
court to sentenced him to life imprisonment”, said Ndwandwa.
Magistrate Khuduga then sentenced Rampolong to life imprisonment for rape and ordered that his
name should be included in the National Register for Sexual Offenders. She further declared him unfit
to possess a firearm.
