MAN SENTENCED TO 26 YEARS FOR RAPE AND ROBBERY OF GRANNY
LUTENDO LIVHEBE – MUDAU. The Centane Regional Court sentenced Lunga Solani (27), to a collective 26-year imprisonment, for offences committed when he attacked and raped his 85-year-old relative. The court sentenced him to 20 years for rape, three years for housebreaking and three years for theft. The crimes were committed on the night of 31 July 2021, in the Mandluntsha area in the district of Centane.
Solani pleaded guilty to housebreaking and theft, but not guilty to rape, which necessitated the state to lead the evidence of the single witness, the victim. She testified that she was preparing to sleep when she went to the kitchen to switch off the lights. It is then that somebody kicked her door open and got inside. The assailant pushed her to her bedroom where he raped her, after severely assaulting her with a stick, strangling and bashing her against the wall. The elderly woman fought back, but due to her age, she got tired. Solani fell asleep after sexually violating the granny and only ran away to his nearby home after 05h00. By then, the victim had had ample time to identify him. She reported to another relative, that she was raped by Solani, and then men from the locality gathered and found him before summoning the police.
Prosecutor Siyabonga Manase submitted a J88 report, which showed infliction of grievous bodily harm to the elderly victim, that informed him to invoke provisions of section 51(1) Act 105/1997, seeking life imprisonment. Notwithstanding the prosecutor’s prayers for life imprisonment, the NPA is of the view that this sentence serves as the desired deterrent to would-be perpetrators of gender-based violence against their vulnerable relatives.
