Man (32) sentenced to life for rape and robbery
In August 2020, the female victim was running on Kloof Street in Pretoria West, when three men grabbed her, dragged her into bushes where Mulero Nyangero raped her.
The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court has sentenced Mulero Nyangero (32) to life imprisonment on rape charges.
The Pretoria West resident was additionally sentenced to five years for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Lumka Mahanjana, said the court ordered that the sentences run concurrently and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
“On the afternoon of August, 14, 2020, the victim was running on Kloof Street in Pretoria West, when three men came out of the nearby bush and dragged her into the bushes where Nyangero raped her,” explained Mahanajana.
Mahanjana explained that while Nyengero was raping her the other two men were assaulting her and threatening her with a knife.
“Thereafter, they forced her to transfer money to them via cellphone banking, tied her hands and fled the scene. The victim untied herself, ran to the road, where she got a lift home from a passerby.”
She said the victim reported the rape at Pretoria West police station.
“Nyangero was arrested on February 21, 2021, at a tavern in Pretoria West and has been in custody since.”
He pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied ever committing the offences.
“However, state prosecutor Advocate Chester Molaba presented compelling evidence by the investigating officers and the victim, which proved that indeed Nyangero committed the offences,” she said, adding that he was eventually found guilty.
“During sentencing, Nyangero asked the court to deviate from imposing the prescribed minimum sentences because he has a family that he needs to provide and care for,” Mahanjana said.
She added that Nyangero asked the court to consider the fact that he had already been in custody for four years.
“Molaba, however, argued against the deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment because Nyangero showed no remorse for the serious crimes of gender-based violence (GBV) he committed, which are prevalent in the country. Furthermore, Molaba argued that the offences were inhumane, vicious, and brutal against a defenceless woman.”
In delivering the judgment, Magistrate Themba Ndwandwe agreed with the state.
“He said that his actions showed that he had no respect for women because he treated the victim like an animal. Therefore, he found no substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from imposing the prescribed minimum sentence.”
The Acting Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) advocate, Marika Jansen Van Vuuren, applauded the work of the prosecutor and the investigating officer, which led to this conviction and sentence.
She said she hoped that this sentence reaffirms the NPA’s commitment to prosecuting GBV crimes.
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