The Provincial Commissioner of the police in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma is elated on the sentencing of a child rapist on Monday, 16 October 2017.
His elation comes after the Secunda Regional Court sentenced a 69 year old senior citizen to life imprisonment for the rape of a five year old girl in September 2011.
Aaron Baloi, who was well known in the neighborhood, lured the victim into his room by enticing her with sweets then pounced and brutally raped her. After he was done with his appalling act, he then threatened the vulnerable girl and instructed her not to reveal the gruesome ordeal to anyone.
In the meantime her family was looking for her and when they could not find her where she had been playing with other children, including Baloi’s own grandchildren, they then called for a search for the missing girl.
Later that evening, they found the child who looked distraught, scared and in pain. When asked where she was, she told her parents that she had been playing with other children and got injured.
She was rushed to hospital where it was revealed that she had been raped. Due to the severity of the injuries the child had to be transferred to the Baragwanath hospital for further medical attention.
During the trial, the court found that the heartless act traumatised the now 11 year old victim and her family tremendously, as the perpetrator had been a trusted and respectable man in the neighbourhood.
In passing the sentence, the magistrate articulated that what Baloi did was evil and not allowed in the society we live in, therefore he is not fit to live in a free society. “Children are the future of our country, adults’ core responsibility is to make sure that kids are safe and protected. But you took advantage of the trust the young girl had in you. Therefore people like you must be removed from the society,” said the Magistrate.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
