.jpeg&w=60&q=100&h=60)
A South African Serial rapist Sello Abram Mapunya will know the rest of his fate today, Thursday, May 27, 2021, as the High Court in Pretoria is set to sentence him for having raped and robbed at least 56 women in the capital, over a period of five years.
It is believed that Mapunya’s reign of terror started as early as 2014, targeting women in areas like Atteridgeville, Nellmapius, Silverton, Mamelodi and Olievenhoutbosch.
On Wednesday, Judge Papi Mosopa found Mapunya guilty of rape, robbery with aggravating circumstances and house-breaking.
“The state has proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt on the evidence that was led,” said Mosopa.
“These heinous crimes occurred in the sanctity of people’s homes. Your client violated not just the victims but their husbands and children, who were forced to watch and endure the pain of their mothers and wives being raped. Looking at how many victims there are, would I be wrong in classifying your client as a serial rapist?”
One of Sello Abram Mapunya’s rape victims was a girl as young as age 14, who had been walking with a friend when she was attacked in Olievenhoutbosch, Pretoria.
“The victims endured untold trauma when your client broke into their homes between 2am and 4am and attacked them. They were raped in places where they thought they would be safe,” Judge Mosopa said.
He further pointed out that Mapunya has failed to explain why he attacked his victims in the manner that he did.
“To this day, neither you nor your client can tell this court what motivated him to commit these heinous crimes, which saw the survivors assaulted with a hammer, knife and a screwdriver,” Mosopa said.
State prosecutor WP Coetzer told the court how Mapunya’s crimes destroyed people’s lives
“The offences were planned. The accused did not use protection. He committed these crimes in front of husbands and children. The violence was gratuitous,” Coetzer said.
