Africa-Press – South-Africa. A man who raped a 5-year-old boy lost his appeal against his rape conviction and life sentence in the Mpumalanga High Court in Mbombela.
Judge Takalani Vincent Ratshibvumo said the court could not find any misdirection on the part of the regional magistrate.
In November 2020, the Mhala Regional Court convicted Collen Mashego of raping the boy on 20 August 2016 and sentenced him to life in prison.
According to court papers, Mashego was at a neighbour’s yard where there were celebrations over traditional initiations. The child was there too.
A neighbour, identified as Mr Mokoena, noticed at around midnight that the child was missing as well as Mashego. A search for the child began.
Upon receiving information that Mashego was the last person seen with the child, a group of people went to Mashego’s homestead. The group included Mokoena, the victim’s mother, as well as a Ms Gabade, who all testified about what they saw at Mashego’s place.
“Upon their arrival there, members of the group searching for the victim knocked at the door of [Mashego’s] room, but there was no response.
The 10-page judgment reads:
Ekurhuleni man guilty of raping two stepsons and forcing them to rape baby sister
Mokoena used a brick to smash the door. Mashego emerged from the room, pulling up his pants and ran away. He was armed with a panga. A case was later opened and the boy was to a forensic nurse who stated that the child’s anus had been penetrated.
She, however, noted no physical injuries, the judgment further reads.
Mashego denied the allegations against him. He took the case on appeal to the High Court, arguing that the magistrate erred in finding the State proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
He further argued, among other things, that in the absence of physical injuries in and around the anus, “the court a quo should have found this to indicate that no anal penetration took place.”
In addition, he submitted that life imprisonment was an astonishingly harsh and shocking sentence that was disproportionate. However, the High Court found that without any misdirection on the part of the lower court, the powers of an appeal court to interfere with the sentence were very limited. The appeal against the conviction and sentence was dismissed.
Read the full judgment here.
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