Three years ago Thapelo Ramorukutha went on the rampage in Lobatse raping two victims in one hour and stealing one of his victim’s P30 loose change.
Last week Lobatse High court Judge, Godfrey Nthomiwa sentenced the serial rapist to 33 years in prison.
As details of the crime unfolded during trial, the state called out nine witnesses to give an account of the gruesome events of early morning of December 14th, 2017.
The court heard that the first victim and two others had been in the company of Ramorukutha at a local drinking hole.
At around 05 00 am the quartet left the drinking spot and headed for the accused’s home to continue their entertainment.
According to the first victim, when they arrived at the house, Ramorukutha started harassing her, demanding to have sex with her in the presence of the others and when she refused he punched her in the face and she fainted.
A fight ensued and the two other drinking buddies left. When the victim regained consciousness she and Ramorukutha went to look for the two others.
On the way, in between two yards, Ramorukutha lifted her victim and threw her over the wall into an abandoned yard. He then jumped over the wall and assaulted her, bruising and scratching her on the legs, buttocks and forehead. He also punched her on the mouth and caused her to lose a tooth before he raped her.
According to the victim, during the rape, Ramorukutha ejaculated prematurely and when he insisted on another round she tricked him into believing she was still going to have sex with him later.
“He forcibly took her P 30.00. She pleaded with him to spare P6.00 for her transport. When they parted ways she proceeded to the police to report she had been raped,” reads the court record.
An hour later Ramorukutha continued his criminal activity. This time around he approached a daycare teacher at her home. His tactic was to ask for a part-time job before he pounced on his victim.
“He punched her on the face and pulled her into the house. He overpowered her and dragged her to the kitchen to access a knife. She tried to explain to him that she was on her menstrual period but he forcibly pulled her pants and panty off and sexually violated her. When he noticed that she was indeed bleeding, he sodomised her,” the court heard.
He then tried to force the victim into the fridge and when she could not fit he attempted to cut her neck but the knife was too blunt.
“He released her to look for another knife and she escaped. She ran to report to the police station. It appears the accused was on a mission to cause havoc in that locality that day. He did not stop at raping the two women but continued to commit another offense, “ reads the judgment in part.
Judge Nthomiwa sentenced the man to 15 years for the first rape, 16 years for the second rape, and two years for robbery.
