The long arm of the law has finally caught up with a 42-year-old serial rapist who raped four women and committed several robberies in the North West.
Tshepo Ben Moloi was convicted on four counts of rape, five counts of robbery and and one count of escaping from lawful custody. He was sentenced to a combined jail term of 65 years in prison.
In a statement yesterday, provincial police spokesperson Captain Sam Tselanyane said Moloi’s sentencing emanated from a spree of rapes he committed between 2010 and 2013, in and around the Masosobane area in Phokeng.
Moloi, who is from Lenatong Section, accosted women between the ages 15 to 30, going home after visiting friends late at night or in the early hours of the morning, Tselanyane said.
“He would grab and force his victims into the bushes, then rape them at gunpoint and rob them of their valuables. The victims would as a result be left stranded in the bushes,” said Tselanyane.
The chronology of his crimes include:
- In 2010 Moloi raped his first victim a day after Christmas.
- The second victim, a 15-year-old teenager was raped a year later on a New Year’s day in 2011.
- The third victim, who pretended to be pregnant at the time of the ordeal, was raped in the early hours of the morning on January 21, 2011.
- The fourth victim, a 30-year-old female was raped on Friday, January 6, 2012 after 9pm after the accused dragged her into a secluded area in Zeerust and raped her.
- On Thursday, August 29, 2013, the accused raped a 22-year-old woman at about 10:15pm. It was reported that the victim was in the company of her boyfriend who left her just before she reached her place of residence. The accused accosted the victim near the gate and threatened her. Consequently, he dragged her to the nearby bushes where he raped her.
“The accused was eventually traced and arrested, but escaped shortly before appearing in court on 29 December 2013. He was re-arrested two days later at a plot in Kroondal after police received a tip-off,” said Tselanyane.
He said Moloi had been in detention since his re-arrest and was found guilty on 10 out of 13 charges after being positively linked to the incidents through DNA.
Tselanyane said the accused was also declared unfit to possess a firearm in terms of Section 103 of the Firearms Control Act, 2000 (Act No. 60 of 2000).
The Provincial Commissioner of North West, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena lauded the investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Obakeng Rasego of the Rustenburg Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit, and all those involved including the National Prosecuting Authority, for securing yet another good conviction during commemoration of 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children.
Kwena reiterated that the police would work tirelessly to ensure perpetrators of gender-based violence were brought to book.
THE MERCURY