A journey on a road of crime that started in 2006, when a young man started attacking victims and raping them, ended last week, when he was sentenced to two life terms and an additional 81 years in prison.

Nkhumbudzeni Tshiedzedza (27) of Dzwerani was found guilty of six counts of rape and two of robbery by the Sibasa Regional Court.

The sentence brought a sigh of relief to the communities of Dzwerani and surrounding villages where Tshiedzedza operated. Police also hailed the sentence, saying it would serve as a deterrent.

Tshiedzedza had in 2006 accosted women aged 19 and 20 at a soccer field at Lwamondo on their way home from church. The women were then held at knifepoint and raped.

In 2007, he confronted two lovers at Lwamondo village and forced the boyfriend away at knifepoint, raping the girlfriend and stealing her cellphone. His criminal journey continued and in 2008, he forced his way into a house at Ha-Ramukhuba in the Vuwani area and raped a 14-year-old girl. In 2009 he raped two girls, aged 16 and 21, at their home but was arrested and found with cellphones belonging to the girls.

Tshiedzedza was positively linked to the rapes through DNA testing.

In passing judgement, Magistrate Johan Coetzee told the packed court that people like Tshiedzedza deserved to be thrown in jail for a long time. He said the man had used vicious force to take the belongings of victims and to rape them .

Tshiedzedza listened attentively while the magistrate read out forensic results linking him to the crimes.

Lt Colonel Mzamani Thomas Hobyane, head of the Family Violence, Child Protectionand Sexual Offences unit at Sibasa is happy with the judgement and sentence. "´We commend the justice system for sending this man to jail for a long time as women and children were no longer safe in villages,” he said. Hobyani said since the arrest of the criminal, crime in the area had decreased immensely.