MBOMBELA- Elvis Aaron Zulu(40) will spend 83 years in prison following a conviction by the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court.
His sentence is following 22 counts ranging from nine counts of rape, six counts of kidnapping, three counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, three counts of pointing a firearm and a count of possession of an unlicensed firearm.
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Zulu committed all crimes from January 2011 until November 2014 around Pienaar and Kabokweni. According to the National Prosecuting Authority(NPA),he would target his victims at gunpoint, take them to a nearby house and rape them.
He would sometimes take his victims to a nearby graveyard, rape them and rob them of their belongings like cellphones and cash. One of the victims was a minor when the incident happened while three other victims were gang raped by the accused and his other unknown co-perpetrators.
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In another incident, he raped a 38 year-old woman after he struck a conversation with her on her way to the shop. His other victim was raped the Msogwaba Cemetery where he pointed a firearm at her, laid her on a grave and raped her.
He pleaded not guilty in court and claimed he got consent from a victim who identified him. State Advocate Tshepo Mahasha led evidence of all victims who testified about how the incident happened. The court found no substantial and compelling circumstances to justify deviation from the imposition of the prescribed minimum sentence. He was declared unfit to possess a firearm, it further ordered the accused’s name to be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders and declared unfit to work with children.