A vicious rapist will spend the next 15 years behind bars after being sentenced in the Ezakheni Regional Court recently.
33-year-old Sifiso Michael Mjiakho was recently found guilty of raping a teenage girl and on May 6, he was sentenced in the Ezakheni Regional Court to 15 years’ imprisonment.
The conviction and sentencing stems from an incident that occurred on April 23, 2013.
A 17-year-old girl and her neighbour walked to church and at about 8.30pm they made their way back home along the Pieters road outside Ladysmith. They soon noticed a man following them. The man was carrying a firearm.
The two girls began to run and the man chased after them. He caught up to and managed to catch hold of one of the girls. The man pulled her to a nearby bridge and when she called out for help, he hit her and held her around the throat. He then pulled her further into a dark area in the bushes, where he demanded that she make a choice – submit to rape or die.
Meanwhile, the neighbour called out to her and after receiving no answer, she raced home to get help. After raping the 17-year-old girl, the man allowed her to leave.
As the girl reached home, she found her family and police already there. A case was opened and after a thorough investigation, her assailant was traced and arrested. The case was investigated by Constable Gerald Juggiah from the Ladysmith Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS).
“Throughout the investigation of this case, I was assisted by my colleagues, Warrant Officer Zikalala and Constable Ntshingila. I must therefore thank them for the time and effort they put into helping me solve this case,” said Constable Juggiah.
