Africa-Press – South-Africa. An East Rand man, who was acquitted of the murder of four-year-old Bokgabo Poo, has been sentenced to life for the rape of a nine-year-old girl.
On Monday, Ntokozo Zikhali was acquitted of Bokgabo’s murder, but on Thursday, he was jailed by the Gauteng High Court, sitting in Benoni, for raping and kidnapping the nine-year-old girl.
Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana had previously said the child was playing with her friends in a park in Tamboville when Zikhali approached her, picked her up and took her to a dam where he raped her before running away.
He was linked to the crime through DNA evidence.
Zikhali was out on bail when Bokgabo was killed.
He was charged with Bokgabo’s kidnapping and murder, violation of a corpse and defeating the ends of justice after she disappeared from Masoleng Park in Wattville, Benoni, on 9 October 2022.
Residents later discovered parts of Bokgabo’s mutilated body in Tamboville.
On Monday, the court found him not guilty of all the charges he faced regarding Bokgabo’s murder.
This because the court rejected most of the State’s evidence, including Zikhali’s confession.
It found he had been coerced into confessing.
This after the investigator, who took down his confession, testified Zikhali, who had bruises on his body, had told him he was assaulted.
The prosecution also had evidence of Zikhali walking away from the park with Bokgabo.
However, the court said it was inconclusive and therefore there was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt against him.
The court also found the pointing out process was procedurally flawed as Zikhali’s rights were not properly read to him.
Therefore, the judge ruled against the admissibility of that evidence.
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