| Rapist masquerading as a man of cloth sentenced to 10 terms of life imprisonment plus 70 years in jail | |
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| Date Published: | 2025/07/24 |
| Description Details: | |
Media Statement
In September 2022 a child minder of four children overheard people talking about a pastor who had a reputation of violating young children. The conversation caught the minder’s interest because the children she was looking after frequented the place of the pastor and would spend a considerable amount of time in his company. The children would also assist Mabhale when he was doing his odd jobs of fixing electrical appliances. As soon as the child minder arrived home, she asked the four children if Mabhale had done anything to them, but they did not open up to her. The children later confessed to their mother that the pastor had been raping them and the matter was immediately reported to the police. Investigation into the matter ensued with the urgency it deserved and investigations uncovered that Mabhale had raped at least 10 children. The victims, who are all minors, informed police detectives that the pastor would lure them to his rented room at Ndidini area where he would make them watch pornographic material and then rape them. Mabhale was arrested at his hiding place at Luvisi area on 22 September 2022 and was then charged with cases of rape, sexual assault and exposing children to pornography. Mabhale made his initial court appearance at Nquthu Magistrates Court. His several bids for bail were opposed successfully until the day of his sentencing. The matter was then transferred to the Nquthu Regional Court where the suspect pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. Commendable investigative work by the detectives was enough to convince the court to hand down the ultimate sentence to Mabhale. Ends
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