A 25-year-old man who terrorised women in Thembalethu over several years has been sentenced to two life terms plus 50 years’ imprisonment by the Thembalethu Regional Court.

George Herald reports that Mark Sekelani (25) was convicted on multiple counts of rape, as well as charges of kidnapping and robbery with aggravating circumstances, following incidents that took place in Thembalethu between 2014 and 2018.

Brutal attacks documented in court

The court heard that on February 1, 2014, an 18-year-old woman was walking along a passage near 19th Street in Thembalethu when she was grabbed from behind by a man armed with a knife. He forced her to the ground and raped her.

In a separate incident on June 11, 2018 at about 20:40, a 17-year-old girl was approached by a man who asked her to accompany him. When they reached a building site in Ngcakani Street in Zone 3, he pulled out a knife and threatened to kill her. He forced the girl into a half-built house where he repeatedly raped her. The victim later reported the incident to her mother, who alerted police.

Less than two weeks later, on June 23 at about 21:00, a couple walking along a footpath in Zone 2 were confronted by a man armed with a panga. He forced the pair to undress before repeatedly raping the woman. Her partner managed to escape to a nearby house to seek help. The attacker fled the scene with the couple’s belongings.

Investigation and conviction

The cases were investigated by detectives from the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit in George. Sekelani was later linked to the crimes through DNA analysis and arrested.

The Thembalethu Regional Court sentenced him to two life sentences for two counts of rape, 30 years’ imprisonment for three additional rape convictions, 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances and five years for kidnapping.

Western Cape police management commended the investigators and prosecution team for securing the conviction and lengthy sentence.

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