Justice has prevailed for scores of victims who were raped and robbed of money, clothes and cellphones by a perpetrator identified as Hans Appie, 50.
Appie received a double life sentence in the Taung Regional Court on Thursday, according to Northern Cape police.
The accused was found guilty on October 17 of 10 charges, including rape, attempted murder and robbery.
“He was arrested after several rape cases were reported in Pampierstad, where it is alleged that the accused terrorised victims between 2013 and 2014. He targeted children on their way to school and women going to work in the early hours of the morning and returning late at night. He raped and robbed the victims of money, clothes and cellphones,” said the police.
DNA linked Appie to all the rape cases.
After his arrest in 2013, bail was successfully opposed by the investigating officer, Sergeant Sidwell Dastile, and the case was transferred to the Taung Regional Court for trial.
Count 1: Rape: life imprisonment, Count 2: Rape: Life imprisonment, Count 3: attempted murder, 15 years' imprisonment, Count 4: attempted murder, 15 years' imprisonment, Count 5: attempted murder, 10 years' imprisonment, Count 6: attempted murder, 10 years' imprisonment, Count 7: Robbery, 15 years' imprisonment, Count 8: Robbery, 15 years' imprisonment, Count 9: Robbery, 8 years' imprisonment; and Count 10: Robbery, 8 years' imprisonment.
Appie was declared unfit to possess a firearm, and his name will be entered in the National Register of Sexual Offenders. He may also not work with children.
Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General Koliswa Otola lauded Dastile for the meticulous investigation of all the cases which led to the incarceration for life of the accused.
In another case of rape, Northern Cape police reported on the sentencing of 27-year-old Pogisho Joseph Skalk to an effective 24 years’ imprisonment after he was found guilty of rape by the Taung Regional Court on November 2.
On January 13, 2021, a 62-year-old victim was sleeping at her residence in Mountain View, Pampierstad, when Skalk forcefully entered the house through a window, and assaulted and raped her.
“DNA positively linked the accused to the rape. He was arrested on March 18, 2022, and his bail application was successfully denied until he was convicted and sentenced. In addition to the hefty sentence, he was declared unfit to possess a firearm,” said police.
The Star
anita.nkonki@inl.co.za