Life imprisonment for rapist

A ZULULAND man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a 13-year-old boy.

Musawenkosi Nqhushu Mthethwa (29) from Empangeni appeared in the Richards Bay Regional Court where he was convicted.

The case was investigated by the Empangeni Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) and, through investigation and the collection of evidence, the accused, who was also linked by means of DNA, was proven guilty.

According to a statement released by the KZN South African Police Services Media Centre, on 13 November 2011, the boy was walking to eNseleni on the pedestrian route next to Aquadene forest when he came across the accused.

It was reported that Mthethwa questioned the victim on the whereabouts of grazing cattle. The victim told him that he passed the cattle near the Aquadene suburb and was then grabbed and forced into the forest nearby.

The criminal then threatened him with a panga, tied his feet with a rope and raped him. The victim managed to escape and saw a meter taxi passing by when he called for help.

He told the taxi driver what had happened and they went to look for the accused in the forest.

The local police were also alerted about the incident by the taxi driver.

On searching the forest, the driver found the man loitering among the trees and the boy identified the accused as the same man that violated him.

The Richards Bay Police arrived on scene and arrested the man. He appeared in court and was denied bail.