A 40-year old serial rapist, Nkosinathi Emmanuel Phakathi, whose victims were mostly children, has been sentenced to 791-years in jail.
Nkosinathi was sentenced by a high court in Pretoria, South Africa. His sentence also includes 42 life terms and six months direct imprisonment.
He was charged to court on November 8, 2022 on 90 counts charge bordering on rape, four counts on compelled rape, three counts of compelling or causing a child to witness a sexual act, 43 counts of kidnapping, two counts of assault and four counts on theft.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority, the convict committed the offence from June 2012 before he was arrested in March 2021.
The prosecution told the court Nkosinathi was a serial rapist whose victims were majorly school children with ages ranging from nine years old and the oldest being a 44-year-old female.
Narrating his modus operandis before the court, the prosecution said the convict perpetrated the act by attacking the children while going or coming back from school or whenever the adult victims were going to work in the morning or evening.
On some other occasions, he would visit the homes of his victims pretending to be an electrician who had come to carry out a repair in the house. In the process of pretending to be repairing appliances, he would rape the victim.
In some cases the prosecution said the convict would rape more than one person at a time and forced children to watch and also forced young boys to rape their female friends after which he would run away and leave the area.
He was, however, arrested after DNA evidence linked him to one of the incidents. He was shot in the legs while attempting to evade arrest.
While delivering judgment, the court presided by Justice Lesego Makolomakwe ordered that the convict’s name be added on the National Register for Sexual Offenders and the National Child Protection Register.
The judge further said Incase the convict is granted parole, his victims should be informed so they can make representations.
Though the defence in it’s alocutor pleaded for leniency and lesser sentence, the prosecution objected on the ground that the offence committed were serious which has caused humiliation to the dignity of the victims.
The prosecution also argued that the convict showed no remorse for the offences committed.
