The Boschfontein Regional Court found a serial rapist, John Innocent Ndlala (40), guilty on May 20 and sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
According to a provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Donald Mdhluli, the court heard how Ndlala had entered the first victim’s house in Mbangwane Trust in the early hours one June morning in 2012 and raped the 59-year old woman. At that time, the perpetrator was as yet unknown. A rape case was opened and the docket assigned to the Family Violence and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit.
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In July that year, Ndlala raped another woman in the same trust, who was 25 at the time. The victim had been on her way home in the early evening, returning from a visit to some friends, when she ran into Ndlala, whom she knew. He grabbed her, took her to an abandoned shop and raped her.
Mdhluli said passer-by hurried to inform the victim’s family about what had occurred. They rescued her and cornered Ndlala. He was able to flee the scene, however, as they started pelting him with stones.
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This incident was also reported to the police and the docket assigned to the FCS Unit as well. Ndlala was arrested on July 23, 2012. “During the investigations, the police discovered the accused was the same one responsible for raping both victims in both the cases they were investigating,” Mdhluli said.
Ndlala was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for the rape of the first victim and 25 years’ imprisonment for that of the second. The sentences will run concurrently, and his name will be added onto the Register of Sexual Offenders.
