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CEMETERY RAPIST GETS 15 YEARS NO FINE

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image Sithembiso Dlamini about to board a His Majesty’s Correctional Services vehicle after being sentenced to 15 years. (Pic by Kwanele Dlamini)

MBABANE – The man who raped a woman at Mangwaneni Cemetery will spend the next 15 years in prison.


Principal Magistrate Fikile Nhlabatsi yesterday sentenced Sithembiso Dlamini (32) of Mangwaneni to 15 years without an option of a fine. This comes after the court found Dlamini guilty of rape.


He had sexual intercourse with *Sindi at the cemetery without her consent. Dlamini used a knife to threaten her.
The principal magistrate said the offence was accompanied by aggravating circumstances.


The court stated that the use of a knife by the convict to threaten the survivor to submit to sexual intercourse as an aggravating factor fell away because the weapon was not brought before court.
In passing the sentence, Principal Magistrate Nhlabatsi said the fact that the rape took place at a cemetery, it should have been listed as an aggravating factor.


According to the court, Dlamini kept stalking the woman leading to a period of long confusion and defencelessness on her part.
“He had no regard to conscience. The offence took place at a cemetery. It was the utmost degrading occurrence to a human being,” said the principal magistrate.


She mentioned that judges in the country and outside noted that rape dehumanised the survivor and caused long-term havoc on their emotional well-being and health.
The court said due to the disturbing prevalence or rape, the perpetrators should expect heavy sentences. The court further encouraged the Crown to lead expert witnesses to prove that the scourge caused lifelong trauma on the survivor.


Principal Magistrate Nhlabatsi informed Dlamini that in terms of Section 185 (b) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act of 1938, when a court has ruled that the offence of rape was accompanied by aggravating circumstances, the sentence should not be less than nine years.
The court sentenced Dlamini to 15 years, which was backdated to October 2015.

 

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