“I do not know why I raped her because my intention was to rob her and buy my kids food since they did not have anything to eat,” explained the convicted rapist, shaking his head in disgust at his own actions.
Appearing before Francistown Magistrates Court on Tuesday (August 20th), Lucky Ndobo learnt he will spend the next 15 years of his life locked away in a prison cell after admitting to raping a 70-year-old pensioner.
The unemployed Mathangwane man confessed to violating the old lady on the afternoon of 16 November 2021, attacking her from behind as she worked home from the farms.
According to the facts before court, Ndobo, 34, pushed the helpless granny to the ground, with the fall causing her to break her right hand.
He then undressed and raped her without a condom, before making off with P370 in cash as well as the victim’s cell phone, valued at P300.
Due to the violent nature of the rape/robbery, as well as a fractured hand, the elderly victim was left bleeding from the vagina and also suffered abrasions on her left breast.
It was also revealed Ndobo previously fell foul of the law in his teenage years, serving six months extra mural labor for common assault, after being found guilty by Mathangwane Customary Court on 19 May 2009.
This time, he was to receive a much stiffer punishment!
Begging for a lenient sentence, Ndobo, who kept changing his plea from guilty to not-guilty and back again, told court he was the one taking care of his children.
The rapist’s pleas did not wash with Principal Magistrate, Tshepo Magetse, who pointed out there were no extenuating circumstances that called for the suspect to receive the minimum sentence – which at the time of offence was 10 years but was doubled to 20 years on 14 September 2023.
“A 70-year-old vulnerable pensioner was raped. And there is nothing that justifies raping of her. We have to pass sentences that will send a strong message out there to those planning to commit the same offences. The convict is therefore sentenced to 15 years for rape and 10 years for robbery, with the two sentences to run concurrently [at the same time],” ruled Magistrate Magetse.
