A man convicted of gang-raping a Middelburg woman earned the wrath of a high court judge for his violence and misogyny, which the judge termed despicable and perverted.
“Let’s take this thing and work with it,” sneered Siphamandla Qalani, 23, to his friend Wandile Makwena when they spotted a 21-year-old woman who had walked a few metres from her home to a nearby shop in Kwanonzame, Middelburg.
The two men had accosted and snatched the woman as she left the shop. They dragged her down the road to a house one of them lived in, where they both raped her.
The court heard how the brave woman finally managed to make her escape through the toilet window and fled, half naked, to the nearby house of a friend. She had quickly sought out the home where she had been held captive and pointed it out to police. Makwena, who was still at the house, was arrested the same night.
He made a full confession to police and pointed out Qalani as his accomplice. Later, in February Makwena pleaded guilty in the Graaff-Reinet Circuit High Court and was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment.
Qalani evaded arrest and, when caught, pleaded not guilty in the Grahamstown High Court. He claimed he had simply been trying to find the woman a place to sleep that night.
Makwena testified against Qalani, confirming the young woman’s version that Qalani had also raped her.
In sentencing Qalani, Judge Jeremy Pickering said the horror gang rape followed a forceful abduction of an innocent and vulnerable victim who had merely set out from her home to do some shopping.
She had been subjected to a humiliating and terrifying ordeal. He found Qalani’s utterance “let’s take this thing and work with it” particularly aggravating. He said the courts too often dealt with accused that treated women as mere objects to be used and tossed aside.
“I have, however, never heard before such a chilling expression from the mouth of an accused himself of his contempt for women in general and his victim in particular.” He sentenced Qalani to life imprisonment.
Rapist, 23 gets life sentence
“Let’s take this thing and work with it,” sneered Siphamandla Qalani, 23, to his friend Wandile Makwena when they spotted a 21-year-old woman who had walked a few metres from her home to a nearby shop in Kwanonzame, Middelburg.
The two men had accosted and snatched the woman as she left the shop. They dragged her down the road to a house one of them lived in, where they both raped her.
The court heard how the brave woman finally managed to make her escape through the toilet window and fled, half naked, to the nearby house of a friend. She had quickly sought out the home where she had been held captive and pointed it out to police. Makwena, who was still at the house, was arrested the same night.
He made a full confession to police and pointed out Qalani as his accomplice. Later, in February Makwena pleaded guilty in the Graaff-Reinet Circuit High Court and was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment.
Qalani evaded arrest and, when caught, pleaded not guilty in the Grahamstown High Court. He claimed he had simply been trying to find the woman a place to sleep that night.
Makwena testified against Qalani, confirming the young woman’s version that Qalani had also raped her.
In sentencing Qalani, Judge Jeremy Pickering said the horror gang rape followed a forceful abduction of an innocent and vulnerable victim who had merely set out from her home to do some shopping.
She had been subjected to a humiliating and terrifying ordeal. He found Qalani’s utterance “let’s take this thing and work with it” particularly aggravating. He said the courts too often dealt with accused that treated women as mere objects to be used and tossed aside.
“I have, however, never heard before such a chilling expression from the mouth of an accused himself of his contempt for women in general and his victim in particular.” He sentenced Qalani to life imprisonment.
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