A KwaZulu-Natal man was jailed for 15 years for raping and robbing an 88-year-old woman.
|||Pietermaritzburg - A KwaZulu-Natal man was jailed for 15 years by the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Wednesday for raping and robbing an 88-year-old woman.
The woman knew 29-year-old Mthokozisi Malishe, from the Port Shepstone area, and considered him her grandchild.
Acting Judge Sibusiso Mngomezulu said because of the gravity of the rape, he imposed five more years than the minimum prescribed sentence of 10 years for a first conviction.
For the housebreaking and robbing the elderly woman of R180, Malishe was sentenced to five years in jail, to run concurrently with the 15-year term.
Mngomezulu said youngsters raping elderly woman was distressing. In the past, young men took pride in respecting old women. It was then a disgrace and taboo for young men to think of having sexual relations with the elderly, he said.
Malishe pleaded guilty to housebreaking with intent to rob, robbery and raping the woman in November last year. His plea spared the woman of having to relive the trauma of describing the rape in court. His aggravated conduct stopped the court from deviating from the prescribed sentence and imposing a more lenient term.
Six months after the rape and robbery the victim was still undergoing psychological and physical counselling, the court heard. - Sapa