Tshitereke Joseph Netshikameloni (53) of Mutele B settlement was sentenced to four years in jail or to pay a fine of R8 000 for raping a 12-year-old girl with whom he was in love. The case was finalized in the Venda High Court last Friday.

The case is related to an incident that took place at Mutele B settlement on November 12, 2004. The court heard that the accused found the victim and her friends washing some clothes at the nearby rivulet on the day of the incident. He stood a distance away and called her. The victim left her friends and followed the accused into the bushes. That is where he raped her. On her return from the bushes, her friends asked her about her outing to the bushes with the man.

She did not respond to their questions. One of the elders who was in the company of the girls at the rivulet decided to tell the victim’s mother about the incident. When her mother asked her about her trip to the bushes, she told her that she was having an affair with the man.

She also told her mother that she had had sexual intercourse with him while in the bushes. The mother took the matter up with the police and Netshikameloni was then arrested. The case was postponed several times in the magistrate’s court before it was referred to the high court for trial.

Although the victim confessed in court that she had had consensual sex with the accused, the court found Netshikameloni guilty of rape on the basis that the victim is below the age of 16. He was sentenced to four years or to a fine of R8 000. The accused was represented by Adv JM Mushasha while Adv RJ Makhera was prosecuting.

In another case that was finalised in the Venda High Court last Friday, Mashudu Mileta (40) of Hamatsa Village, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for rape. The case is related to an incident that took place at Hamatsa Village on September 17, 2004.

The court heard that the victim, a 14-year-old girl, and her friend were playing at the victim’s home on the day of the incident. The accused arrived at the scene and started chasing the girls. The victim’s friend ran away and 14-year-old girl locked herself in the house.

Mileta forced open the door of the house in which the victim was hiding and started raping her. The victim’s brother arrived during the incident. He arrested the accused and took him to the Dzanani police station where he was charged with rape.

The accused was represented by Mr N Manwadu from the Thohoyandou Justice Centre while Advocate ND Nkgapele was the prosecutor.