'Treated her like an animal': Zimbabwean man sentenced to life for Pretoria rape and robbery
In August 2020, the victim was running on Kloof Street in Pretoria West, when three men grabbed her, dragged her into bushes where Mulero Nyangero raped her.
Nyangero, who was residing in Pretoria West, was slapped with a further five years' direct imprisonment sentence for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The Pretoria Magistrate's Court has sentenced 32-year-old Zimbabwean national, Mulero Nyangero to life imprisonment after he was convicted of rape.
Gauteng spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Lumka Mahanjana said the court ordered that the sentences should run concurrently, and that Nyangero be declared unfit to possess a firearm.
'On 14 August 2020 in the afternoon, the victim was running on Kloof Street in Pretoria West, when three men came out of the nearby bush, approached, and dragged her into the bushes where Nyangero raped her,' said Mahanjana.
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'While Nyangero was raping her, the other two men were assaulting her and they threatened her with a knife.
'Thereafter, they forced her to transfer money to them via cellphone banking, tied her hands and fled the scene,' she said.
The victim later managed to untie herself, ran to the road, where she got a lift home from a vehicle which was passing by.
Thereafter, she went to Pretoria West police station, where she reported the matter.
After investigations, Nyangero was arrested on 21 February 2021 at a tavern in Pretoria West and has been in custody since.
In court, Nyangero pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against him and denied ever committing the offences.
'However, state prosecutor Advocate Chester Molaba presented compelling evidence by the investigating officers and the victim, which proved that indeed Nyangero committed the offences.
'During sentencing proceedings, through his legal representative, Nyangero asked the court to deviate from imposing the prescribed minimum sentences because he is married and has two minor children that he needs to provide and care for,' said Mahanjana.
Furthermore, he asked the court to consider the fact that he has been in custody for four years since his arrest in 2021.
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