Africa-Press – South-Africa. A 57-year-old man, who married a KwaZulu-Natal teenager from his church in 2019 and ended up torturing and repeatedly raping her, has been sentenced to life behind bars.
The Greytown Regional Court convicted and sentenced Zakhele Ndlovu to life imprisonment for rape, sexual assault and kidnapping on Monday after it heard the ordeal the teenager endured between February and July 2019, police said on Tuesday.
The 18-year-old was living with her aunt when she was forced to marry Ndlovu who was a member of the church she attended.
The aunt and church elders had agreed to the so-called marriage, with the aunt accepting payment for the arrangement.
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“She would allow the man to come to her house and have his way with the girl and when the girl complained she was reminded that traditionally she belonged to the man,” police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said.
After her concerns fell on deaf ears, she attempted to kill herself on two occasions.
Realising she could not flee, the teenager, whose parents had long died, decided to run away from her aunt’s house.
Ndlovu, however, would have none of it.
“He hired two men to track down his victim, she was caught and taken the accused’s house in Greytown where she was expected to continue with her marital duties.
“He attempted to rape her, and she fought back. When he realised that it was not going to be easy to overpower her, she was taken to Matimatolo [in KZN] where she was handcuffed and raped repeatedly,” said Ngcobo.
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The teenager was kept in a room for months. The local community became suspicious when they heard her crying whenever Ndlovu was at home.
“Police were alerted and they responded swiftly. The girl was rescued and charges of rape, sexual assault as well as kidnapping were opened. The matter was investigated by the Greytown Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences,” Ngcobo said.
She added Ndlovu “became unpredictable and attempted to evade arrest by all means”.
He, however, handed himself over to police on 6 August 2019.
“During his trial, he claimed insanity which could not be confirmed by a mental institution. He made several court appearances before he was sentence to life imprisonment for rape, 12 years for sexual assault and an additional five years for kidnapping,” Ngcobo said.
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