POLOKWANE: 10 March 2023 - The Regional Court in Thabazimbi has sentenced a 23-year-old man to an effective 25 years imprisonment for raping and robbing a 43 year old woman in Northam in April 2018. The court heard that the accused, Marvin Lebeko Ramano raped the victim on 22 April 2028 while she was on her way to work. This after he met the victim at about 05:30 next to the railway line, threatened her with a knife and thereafter dragged her to the nearby bushes where he raped her. The accused then robbed the victim of her cellphone and cash amount of money before he fled the scene.
The case was investigated by Sergeant Mohlatlego Modubi of Thabazimbi Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit. Through his outstanding investigating skills, the accused was traced and arrested few days after the incident.
The accused appeared in the local court several times until he was eventually granted bail. He was then re-arrested in 2019 after a warrant of arrest was issued against him for failing to appear in court. Since then, he was kept in custody until his ultimate sentencing yesterday, Thursday 09.
The accused was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for the first count of rape and 10 years imprisonment for the second count of robbery. He was further declared unfit to possess a firearm.The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
The Provincial Commissioner of police in Limpopo Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has welcomed the hefty sentence imposed against this rapist.