Melumzi Tom, the 38-year-old convicted rapist, was sentenced in the Bhisho High Court on 23 June, on multiple counts, including life imprisonment for rape.
“The Perpetrators of Gender-Based Violence must be excommunicated”, this was the reaction of the Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Liziwe Ntshinga in welcoming the sentences.
According to reports, the accused woke his victim up on a night in November 2015 and started robbing her of R3500, raped, assaulted and shot her.
The 49-year-old victim survived the attack but had difficulty identifying the suspect as his face was covered with a blanket. However, during the investigation of another case of Armed Robbery, Melumzi was arrested in Worcester in the Western Cape.
Through the use of forensic investigative aids like DNA, the suspect Melumzi Tom was identified and linked to the rape case which occurred at Gwalana in Peddie.
The following sentences were imposed on the accused on 2020-06-23 at Bhisho High Court:
Count 1: Rape – is Guilty – Life imprisonment.
Count 2: Housebreaking: Guilty- 15 years of imprisonment.
Count 3: Robbery Aggravating – 10 years of imprisonment.
Count 4: Assault Gbh – Guilty – 8 years imprisonment.
Count 5: Unlawful Possession of firearm – Guilty – 5 years of imprisonment.
Count 6: Possession of Ammunition – Guilty as charged – 5 years imprisonment.
Count 7: Sexual Assault – Guilty as charged – 3 years imprisonment.
Lieutenant General Ntshinga concluded saying, “The sentences must serve as a lesson for the perpetrators of Gender-Based Violence. They must refrain from harassing, molesting, and injuring innocent women or face the full might of the law”.
