Johannesburg – Thabang Victor Rampai, a serial rapist who terrorised women at the Roodepoort cemetery for almost two years, was sentenced to four life terms and 15 years in prison by the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Local Division.
The rapist’s reign of terror began in May 2016 and continued until March 2018, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane Rampai said.
His sentence follows his conviction on six counts of rape, two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, a count of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and a count of attempted murder.
“He pounced on women that visited their relatives’ graves, grabbing their necks and forcing them to the ground. He would then instruct them to undress and rape them. In one incident that happened on March 10, 2018, the victim was cleaning her late husband's grave when he grabbed her from behind and stabbed her with a screwdriver, demanding her cellphone, raping her, and fleeing the scene,” she said.
Mjonondwane said state advocate Makwena Mokwatedi argued that the accused pleaded guilty to all the charges because the evidence against him was overwhelming.
Mokwatedi added that the accused could not dispute the DNA evidence that linked him to the previously unsolved cases of women that were robbed and raped at the Roodepoort graveyard.
She said perpetrators such as the accused created an environment of terror and insecurity in the minds of innocent citizens and should be removed from society.
Judge Moosa ordered that the accused’s name be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders.
The Star