A Limpopo, South Africa serial rapist, Selekenyane Tumelo Marakala, who claimed to be a member of the ‘Boko Haram” gang, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping and choking a woman.
The 30-year-old gangster, was sentenced on Wednesday by Regional Court in Mahwelereng, was said to have told his victim that he was a member of the dreaded gang and threatened to kill her if she resisted the rape.
The Limpopo police spokesperson, Colonel Malesela Ledwaba, told the court that on Sunday, June 9, 2019, Marakala from Moshate, Maroteng village, met the victim, a 19-year-old woman from Ga-Madiba who was on her way home from a tavern just before midnight.
“He grabbed the victim from the back and took her to his house and raped the victim over the night. The accused, Marakala, covered his face with a balaclava.
“He strangled the victim and he voluntarily let the victim to go in the following morning.
“The accused took off the balaclava and introduced himself to the victim as a member of a dangerous gang called Boko Haram, and threatened her not to report him.
“Ultimately the victim went to the police station to report the incident,” Ledwaba said.
The police said Marakala was arrested “within a short space of time” by the police’s Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit after the victim reported the assault and was remanded in custody since 2019, until the final appearance in the trial.
“The case was successfully investigated and the conviction was secured by Sergeant Ramolokwane Leshaba,” said Ledwaba.