On 5 February 2018, Madadeni Regional Court convicted and sentenced a 62 year old man to life imprisonment for raping a 14 year old victim.
On March 2016, a 14 year old boy was very ill; his elders took him to the local traditional healer as they thought he will able to cure him. The healer told the family that there is something wrong with the boy and they must bring him to his house every night. The victim went there for three nights in a row, after that the victim refused to go back, the family then questioned him as why he did not want to go back.
He told them that the reverend is raping him every night claiming that it is a healing process, the elders reported the matter to the police and the docket was transferred to Newcastle Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for further investigation. The suspect was arrested immediately and was kept in custody till his trial. He was the convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for rape.
The KwaZulu-Natal Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Bheki Langa commended detectives for their good investigation that led to the conviction of the accused.
“I would like to praise our detectives for gathering full evidence and brought it to court which led to the successful prosecution of the accused. I welcome the sentence handed down to the accused and we hope that it will send a strong message to other rapists that the long arm of law will catch you whenever and wherever you are” he said.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
